0:00:00.680,0:00:03.200
Imagine you're walking through a forest.

0:00:03.960,0:00:07.096
I'm guessing you're thinking[br]of a collection of trees,

0:00:07.120,0:00:09.856
what we foresters call a stand,

0:00:09.880,0:00:12.520
with their rugged stems[br]and their beautiful crowns.

0:00:13.360,0:00:15.920
Yes, trees are the foundation of forests,

0:00:16.480,0:00:18.960
but a forest is much more[br]than what you see,

0:00:19.560,0:00:23.240
and today I want to change[br]the way you think about forests.

0:00:23.880,0:00:27.256
You see, underground[br]there is this other world,

0:00:27.280,0:00:30.336
a world of infinite biological pathways

0:00:30.360,0:00:33.776
that connect trees[br]and allow them to communicate

0:00:33.800,0:00:37.280
and allow the forest to behave[br]as though it's a single organism.

0:00:38.040,0:00:40.760
It might remind you[br]of a sort of intelligence.

0:00:41.600,0:00:43.256
How do I know this?

0:00:43.280,0:00:44.520
Here's my story.

0:00:45.560,0:00:47.720
I grew up in the forests[br]of British Columbia.

0:00:49.080,0:00:52.256
I used to lay on the forest floor[br]and stare up at the tree crowns.

0:00:52.280,0:00:53.520
They were giants.

0:00:54.320,0:00:55.896
My grandfather was a giant, too.

0:00:55.920,0:00:57.376
He was a horse logger,

0:00:57.400,0:01:00.960
and he used to selectively cut[br]cedar poles from the inland rainforest.

0:01:01.760,0:01:05.736
Grandpa taught me about the quiet[br]and cohesive ways of the woods,

0:01:05.760,0:01:08.160
and how my family was knit into it.

0:01:09.080,0:01:11.216
So I followed in grandpa's footsteps.

0:01:11.240,0:01:13.800
He and I had this curiosity about forests,

0:01:14.800,0:01:16.936
and my first big "aha" moment

0:01:16.960,0:01:18.840
was at the outhouse by our lake.

0:01:19.640,0:01:22.760
Our poor dog Jigs[br]had slipped and fallen into the pit.

0:01:24.080,0:01:27.216
So grandpa ran up with his shovel[br]to rescue the poor dog.

0:01:27.240,0:01:29.480
He was down there, swimming in the muck.

0:01:31.000,0:01:33.696
But as grandpa dug[br]through that forest floor,

0:01:33.720,0:01:36.336
I became fascinated with the roots,

0:01:36.360,0:01:39.456
and under that, what I learned later[br]was the white mycelium

0:01:39.480,0:01:42.560
and under that the red[br]and yellow mineral horizons.

0:01:43.240,0:01:46.416
Eventually, grandpa and I[br]rescued the poor dog,

0:01:46.440,0:01:48.776
but it was at that moment that I realized

0:01:48.800,0:01:51.376
that that palette of roots and soil

0:01:51.400,0:01:53.840
was really the foundation of the forest.

0:01:54.640,0:01:56.040
And I wanted to know more.

0:01:56.680,0:01:58.400
So I studied forestry.

0:01:59.440,0:02:03.056
But soon I found myself working[br]alongside the powerful people

0:02:03.080,0:02:04.960
in charge of the commercial harvest.

0:02:05.960,0:02:08.536
The extent of the clear-cutting

0:02:08.560,0:02:09.816
was alarming,

0:02:09.840,0:02:13.000
and I soon found myself[br]conflicted by my part in it.

0:02:13.600,0:02:18.696
Not only that, the spraying[br]and hacking of the aspens and birches

0:02:18.720,0:02:23.016
to make way for the more commercially[br]valuable planted pines and firs

0:02:23.040,0:02:24.240
was astounding.

0:02:25.040,0:02:28.760
It seemed that nothing could stop[br]this relentless industrial machine.

0:02:29.640,0:02:31.040
So I went back to school,

0:02:32.360,0:02:34.320
and I studied my other world.

0:02:35.480,0:02:39.736
You see, scientists had just discovered[br]in the laboratory in vitro

0:02:39.760,0:02:41.896
that one pine seedling root

0:02:41.920,0:02:45.320
could transmit carbon[br]to another pine seedling root.

0:02:46.160,0:02:47.936
But this was in the laboratory,

0:02:47.960,0:02:51.016
and I wondered,[br]could this happen in real forests?

0:02:51.040,0:02:52.240
I thought yes.

0:02:53.120,0:02:57.080
Trees in real forests might also[br]share information below ground.

0:02:58.120,0:02:59.896
But this was really controversial,

0:02:59.920,0:03:02.536
and some people thought I was crazy,

0:03:02.560,0:03:05.616
and I had a really hard time[br]getting research funding.

0:03:05.640,0:03:07.080
But I persevered,

0:03:08.200,0:03:12.056
and I eventually conducted[br]some experiments deep in the forest,

0:03:12.080,0:03:13.480
25 years ago.

0:03:14.120,0:03:17.016
I grew 80 replicates of three species:

0:03:17.040,0:03:20.216
paper birch, Douglas fir,[br]and western red cedar.

0:03:20.240,0:03:24.296
I figured the birch and the fir[br]would be connected in a belowground web,

0:03:24.320,0:03:25.576
but not the cedar.

0:03:25.600,0:03:27.120
It was in its own other world.

0:03:28.440,0:03:30.296
And I gathered my apparatus,

0:03:30.320,0:03:33.496
and I had no money,[br]so I had to do it on the cheap.

0:03:33.520,0:03:35.136
So I went to Canadian Tire --

0:03:35.160,0:03:36.576
(Laughter)

0:03:36.600,0:03:40.016
and I bought some plastic bags[br]and duct tape and shade cloth,

0:03:40.040,0:03:43.280
a timer, a paper suit, a respirator.

0:03:44.160,0:03:47.336
And then I borrowed some[br]high-tech stuff from my university:

0:03:47.360,0:03:51.976
a Geiger counter, a scintillation counter,[br]a mass spectrometer, microscopes.

0:03:52.000,0:03:54.456
And then I got some[br]really dangerous stuff:

0:03:54.480,0:03:59.256
syringes full of radioactive[br]carbon-14 carbon dioxide gas

0:03:59.280,0:04:01.296
and some high pressure bottles

0:04:01.320,0:04:04.840
of the stable isotope[br]carbon-13 carbon dioxide gas.

0:04:05.560,0:04:07.136
But I was legally permitted.

0:04:07.160,0:04:08.856
(Laughter)

0:04:08.880,0:04:10.480
Oh, and I forgot some stuff,

0:04:11.080,0:04:12.800
important stuff: the bug spray,

0:04:13.600,0:04:16.440
the bear spray,[br]the filters for my respirator.

0:04:17.160,0:04:18.360
Oh well.

0:04:19.560,0:04:22.336
The first day of the experiment,[br]we got out to our plot

0:04:22.360,0:04:25.160
and a grizzly bear and her cub[br]chased us off.

0:04:25.920,0:04:27.440
And I had no bear spray.

0:04:29.120,0:04:32.296
But you know, this is how[br]forest research in Canada goes.

0:04:32.320,0:04:33.776
(Laughter)

0:04:33.800,0:04:35.336
So I came back the next day,

0:04:35.360,0:04:37.616
and mama grizzly and her cub were gone.

0:04:37.640,0:04:39.656
So this time, we really got started,

0:04:39.680,0:04:42.456
and I pulled on my white paper suit,

0:04:42.480,0:04:44.320
I put on my respirator,

0:04:46.160,0:04:47.376
and then

0:04:47.400,0:04:49.680
I put the plastic bags over my trees.

0:04:51.080,0:04:53.176
I got my giant syringes,

0:04:53.200,0:04:54.856
and I injected the bags

0:04:54.880,0:04:58.296
with my tracer isotope[br]carbon dioxide gases,

0:04:58.320,0:04:59.536
first the birch.

0:04:59.560,0:05:02.536
I injected carbon-14, the radioactive gas,

0:05:02.560,0:05:04.136
into the bag of birch.

0:05:04.160,0:05:05.416
And then for fir,

0:05:05.440,0:05:09.256
I injected the stable isotope[br]carbon-13 carbon dioxide gas.

0:05:09.280,0:05:11.016
I used two isotopes,

0:05:11.040,0:05:12.296
because I was wondering

0:05:12.320,0:05:16.160
whether there was two-way communication[br]going on between these species.

0:05:17.640,0:05:20.216
I got to the final bag,

0:05:20.240,0:05:21.736
the 80th replicate,

0:05:21.760,0:05:24.176
and all of a sudden[br]mama grizzly showed up again.

0:05:24.200,0:05:25.616
And she started to chase me,

0:05:25.640,0:05:28.056
and I had my syringes above my head,

0:05:28.080,0:05:31.016
and I was swatting the mosquitos,[br]and I jumped into the truck,

0:05:31.040,0:05:32.256
and I thought,

0:05:32.280,0:05:34.016
"This is why people do lab studies."

0:05:34.040,0:05:35.480
(Laughter)

0:05:37.120,0:05:38.616
I waited an hour.

0:05:38.640,0:05:40.256
I figured it would take this long

0:05:40.280,0:05:43.056
for the trees to suck up[br]the CO2 through photosynthesis,

0:05:43.080,0:05:46.216
turn it into sugars,[br]send it down into their roots,

0:05:46.240,0:05:48.936
and maybe, I hypothesized,

0:05:48.960,0:05:51.760
shuttle that carbon belowground[br]to their neighbors.

0:05:52.920,0:05:54.776
After the hour was up,

0:05:54.800,0:05:56.376
I rolled down my window,

0:05:56.400,0:05:58.000
and I checked for mama grizzly.

0:05:58.600,0:06:01.000
Oh good, she's over there[br]eating her huckleberries.

0:06:01.720,0:06:04.336
So I got out of the truck[br]and I got to work.

0:06:04.360,0:06:08.256
I went to my first bag with the birch.[br]I pulled the bag off.

0:06:08.280,0:06:10.600
I ran my Geiger counter over its leaves.

0:06:11.280,0:06:12.480
Kkhh!

0:06:13.400,0:06:14.616
Perfect.

0:06:14.640,0:06:17.576
The birch had taken up[br]the radioactive gas.

0:06:17.600,0:06:19.176
Then the moment of truth.

0:06:19.200,0:06:20.720
I went over to the fir tree.

0:06:21.320,0:06:23.096
I pulled off its bag.

0:06:23.120,0:06:25.456
I ran the Geiger counter up its needles,

0:06:25.480,0:06:27.680
and I heard the most beautiful sound.

0:06:28.440,0:06:29.640
Kkhh!

0:06:30.760,0:06:33.496
It was the sound of birch talking to fir,

0:06:33.520,0:06:36.976
and birch was saying,[br]"Hey, can I help you?"

0:06:37.000,0:06:40.616
And fir was saying, "Yeah,[br]can you send me some of your carbon?

0:06:40.640,0:06:43.040
Because somebody[br]threw a shade cloth over me."

0:06:44.360,0:06:48.056
I went up to cedar, and I ran[br]the Geiger counter over its leaves,

0:06:48.080,0:06:49.600
and as I suspected,

0:06:50.520,0:06:51.760
silence.

0:06:52.560,0:06:54.776
Cedar was in its own world.

0:06:54.800,0:06:58.760
It was not connected into the web[br]interlinking birch and fir.

0:06:59.840,0:07:01.120
I was so excited,

0:07:02.000,0:07:05.976
I ran from plot to plot[br]and I checked all 80 replicates.

0:07:06.000,0:07:08.136
The evidence was clear.

0:07:08.160,0:07:11.096
The C-13 and C-14 was showing me

0:07:11.120,0:07:15.240
that paper birch and Douglas fir[br]were in a lively two-way conversation.

0:07:15.960,0:07:17.816
It turns out at that time of the year,

0:07:17.840,0:07:19.056
in the summer,

0:07:19.080,0:07:22.736
that birch was sending more carbon to fir[br]than fir was sending back to birch,

0:07:22.760,0:07:25.056
especially when the fir was shaded.

0:07:25.080,0:07:28.056
And then in later experiments,[br]we found the opposite,

0:07:28.080,0:07:31.616
that fir was sending more carbon to birch[br]than birch was sending to fir,

0:07:31.640,0:07:35.280
and this was because the fir was still[br]growing while the birch was leafless.

0:07:35.880,0:07:38.536
So it turns out the two species[br]were interdependent,

0:07:38.560,0:07:39.840
like yin and yang.

0:07:40.960,0:07:43.936
And at that moment,[br]everything came into focus for me.

0:07:43.960,0:07:46.216
I knew I had found something big,

0:07:46.240,0:07:50.976
something that would change the way[br]we look at how trees interact in forests,

0:07:51.000,0:07:53.016
from not just competitors

0:07:53.040,0:07:54.720
but to cooperators.

0:07:55.800,0:07:58.256
And I had found solid evidence

0:07:58.280,0:08:01.656
of this massive belowground[br]communications network,

0:08:01.680,0:08:02.920
the other world.

0:08:03.960,0:08:05.856
Now, I truly hoped and believed

0:08:05.880,0:08:09.496
that my discovery would change[br]how we practice forestry,

0:08:09.520,0:08:11.296
from clear-cutting and herbiciding

0:08:11.320,0:08:14.256
to more holistic and sustainable methods,

0:08:14.280,0:08:17.496
methods that were less expensive[br]and more practical.

0:08:17.520,0:08:18.760
What was I thinking?

0:08:19.920,0:08:21.200
I'll come back to that.

0:08:23.760,0:08:27.600
So how do we do science[br]in complex systems like forests?

0:08:28.720,0:08:32.056
Well, as forest scientists,[br]we have to do our research in the forests,

0:08:32.080,0:08:34.096
and that's really tough,[br]as I've shown you.

0:08:34.120,0:08:37.360
And we have to be really good[br]at running from bears.

0:08:38.760,0:08:40.336
But mostly, we have to persevere

0:08:40.360,0:08:43.256
in spite of all the stuff[br]stacked against us.

0:08:43.280,0:08:45.896
And we have to follow our intuition[br]and our experiences

0:08:45.920,0:08:48.056
and ask really good questions.

0:08:48.080,0:08:51.256
And then we've got to gather our data[br]and then go verify.

0:08:51.280,0:08:56.440
For me, I've conducted and published[br]hundreds of experiments in the forest.

0:08:57.080,0:09:01.080
Some of my oldest experimental plantations[br]are now over 30 years old.

0:09:02.040,0:09:03.456
You can check them out.

0:09:03.480,0:09:05.280
That's how forest science works.

0:09:06.200,0:09:08.536
So now I want to talk about the science.

0:09:08.560,0:09:11.616
How were paper birch[br]and Douglas fir communicating?

0:09:11.640,0:09:16.136
Well, it turns out they were conversing[br]not only in the language of carbon

0:09:16.160,0:09:19.176
but also nitrogen and phosphorus

0:09:19.200,0:09:23.936
and water and defense signals[br]and allele chemicals and hormones --

0:09:23.960,0:09:25.160
information.

0:09:26.160,0:09:29.336
And you know, I have to tell you,[br]before me, scientists had thought

0:09:29.360,0:09:32.936
that this belowground[br]mutualistic symbiosis called a mycorrhiza

0:09:32.960,0:09:34.456
was involved.

0:09:34.480,0:09:37.560
Mycorrhiza literally means "fungus root."

0:09:38.360,0:09:42.256
You see their reproductive organs[br]when you walk through the forest.

0:09:42.280,0:09:44.096
They're the mushrooms.

0:09:44.120,0:09:47.136
The mushrooms, though,[br]are just the tip of the iceberg,

0:09:47.160,0:09:51.416
because coming out of those stems[br]are fungal threads that form a mycelium,

0:09:51.440,0:09:54.136
and that mycelium[br]infects and colonizes the roots

0:09:54.160,0:09:56.296
of all the trees and plants.

0:09:56.320,0:09:58.976
And where the fungal cells[br]interact with the root cells,

0:09:59.000,0:10:01.776
there's a trade of carbon for nutrients,

0:10:01.800,0:10:04.856
and that fungus gets those nutrients[br]by growing through the soil

0:10:04.880,0:10:06.880
and coating every soil particle.

0:10:07.840,0:10:12.136
The web is so dense that there can be[br]hundreds of kilometers of mycelium

0:10:12.160,0:10:13.720
under a single footstep.

0:10:14.720,0:10:19.520
And not only that, that mycelium connects[br]different individuals in the forest,

0:10:20.320,0:10:25.936
individuals not only of the same species[br]but between species, like birch and fir,

0:10:25.960,0:10:28.280
and it works kind of like the Internet.

0:10:29.760,0:10:31.656
You see, like all networks,

0:10:31.680,0:10:34.496
mycorrhizal networks have nodes and links.

0:10:34.520,0:10:38.576
We made this map by examining[br]the short sequences of DNA

0:10:38.600,0:10:44.096
of every tree and every fungal individual[br]in a patch of Douglas fir forest.

0:10:44.120,0:10:47.936
In this picture, the circles represent[br]the Douglas fir, or the nodes,

0:10:47.960,0:10:52.080
and the lines represent the interlinking[br]fungal highways, or the links.

0:10:53.120,0:10:57.456
The biggest, darkest nodes[br]are the busiest nodes.

0:10:57.480,0:10:59.416
We call those hub trees,

0:10:59.440,0:11:01.856
or more fondly, mother trees,

0:11:01.880,0:11:06.496
because it turns out[br]that those hub trees nurture their young,

0:11:06.520,0:11:09.056
the ones growing in the understory.

0:11:09.080,0:11:11.216
And if you can see those yellow dots,

0:11:11.240,0:11:14.536
those are the young seedlings[br]that have established within the network

0:11:14.560,0:11:15.800
of the old mother trees.

0:11:16.400,0:11:20.600
In a single forest, a mother tree can be[br]connected to hundreds of other trees.

0:11:21.800,0:11:24.096
And using our isotope tracers,

0:11:24.120,0:11:25.616
we have found that mother trees

0:11:25.640,0:11:28.576
will send their excess carbon[br]through the mycorrhizal network

0:11:28.600,0:11:30.536
to the understory seedlings,

0:11:30.560,0:11:33.696
and we've associated this[br]with increased seedling survival

0:11:33.720,0:11:34.960
by four times.

0:11:35.880,0:11:39.096
Now, we know we all[br]favor our own children,

0:11:39.120,0:11:42.360
and I wondered, could Douglas fir[br]recognize its own kin,

0:11:43.760,0:11:45.760
like mama grizzly and her cub?

0:11:46.560,0:11:48.376
So we set about an experiment,

0:11:48.400,0:11:52.296
and we grew mother trees[br]with kin and stranger's seedlings.

0:11:52.320,0:11:55.216
And it turns out[br]they do recognize their kin.

0:11:55.240,0:12:00.216
Mother trees colonize their kin[br]with bigger mycorrhizal networks.

0:12:00.240,0:12:02.656
They send them more carbon below ground.

0:12:02.680,0:12:05.256
They even reduce[br]their own root competition

0:12:05.280,0:12:08.136
to make elbow room for their kids.

0:12:08.160,0:12:11.816
When mother trees are injured or dying,

0:12:11.840,0:12:16.360
they also send messages of wisdom[br]on to the next generation of seedlings.

0:12:17.120,0:12:18.656
So we've used isotope tracing

0:12:18.680,0:12:21.256
to trace carbon moving[br]from an injured mother tree

0:12:21.280,0:12:23.616
down her trunk[br]into the mycorrhizal network

0:12:23.640,0:12:25.640
and into her neighboring seedlings,

0:12:26.640,0:12:29.416
not only carbon but also defense signals.

0:12:29.440,0:12:31.256
And these two compounds

0:12:31.280,0:12:35.376
have increased the resistance[br]of those seedlings to future stresses.

0:12:35.400,0:12:36.680
So trees talk.

0:12:38.560,0:12:40.576
(Applause)

0:12:40.600,0:12:41.800
Thank you.

0:12:45.440,0:12:47.736
Through back and forth conversations,

0:12:47.760,0:12:50.440
they increase the resilience[br]of the whole community.

0:12:51.360,0:12:54.256
It probably reminds you[br]of our own social communities,

0:12:54.280,0:12:55.856
and our families,

0:12:55.880,0:12:57.261
well, at least some families.

0:12:57.285,0:12:59.496
(Laughter)

0:12:59.520,0:13:01.425
So let's come back to the initial point.

0:13:02.480,0:13:04.936
Forests aren't simply[br]collections of trees,

0:13:04.960,0:13:08.496
they're complex systems[br]with hubs and networks

0:13:08.520,0:13:12.016
that overlap and connect trees[br]and allow them to communicate,

0:13:12.040,0:13:15.816
and they provide avenues[br]for feedbacks and adaptation,

0:13:15.840,0:13:18.256
and this makes the forest resilient.

0:13:18.280,0:13:22.656
That's because there are many hub trees[br]and many overlapping networks.

0:13:22.680,0:13:24.656
But they're also vulnerable,

0:13:24.680,0:13:27.560
vulnerable not only[br]to natural disturbances

0:13:28.200,0:13:31.896
like bark beetles that preferentially[br]attack big old trees

0:13:31.920,0:13:34.360
but high-grade logging[br]and clear-cut logging.

0:13:35.240,0:13:38.056
You see, you can take out[br]one or two hub trees,

0:13:38.080,0:13:39.800
but there comes a tipping point,

0:13:40.920,0:13:43.856
because hub trees are not[br]unlike rivets in an airplane.

0:13:43.880,0:13:47.416
You can take out one or two[br]and the plane still flies,

0:13:47.440,0:13:49.016
but you take out one too many,

0:13:49.040,0:13:51.656
or maybe that one holding on the wings,

0:13:51.680,0:13:53.520
and the whole system collapses.

0:13:55.000,0:13:57.896
So now how are you thinking[br]about forests? Differently?

0:13:57.920,0:13:59.136
(Audience) Yes.

0:13:59.160,0:14:00.360
Cool.

0:14:01.040,0:14:02.240
I'm glad.

0:14:02.920,0:14:06.776
So, remember I said earlier[br]that I hoped that my research,

0:14:06.800,0:14:10.176
my discoveries would change[br]the way we practice forestry.

0:14:10.200,0:14:14.320
Well, I want to take a check on that[br]30 years later here in western Canada.

0:14:22.840,0:14:25.376
This is about 100 kilometers[br]to the west of us,

0:14:25.400,0:14:27.760
just on the border of Banff National Park.

0:14:29.120,0:14:30.560
That's a lot of clear-cuts.

0:14:31.020,0:14:32.460
It's not so pristine.

0:14:33.980,0:14:39.036
In 2014, the World Resources Institute[br]reported that Canada in the past decade

0:14:39.060,0:14:42.660
has had the highest forest disturbance[br]rate of any country worldwide,

0:14:43.620,0:14:45.340
and I bet you thought it was Brazil.

0:14:47.140,0:14:50.676
In Canada, it's 3.6 percent per year.

0:14:50.700,0:14:54.620
Now, by my estimation, that's about[br]four times the rate that is sustainable.

0:14:57.100,0:15:01.436
Now, massive disturbance at this scale[br]is known to affect hydrological cycles,

0:15:01.460,0:15:03.436
degrade wildlife habitat,

0:15:03.460,0:15:06.356
and emit greenhouse gases[br]back into the atmosphere,

0:15:06.380,0:15:09.300
which creates more disturbance[br]and more tree diebacks.

0:15:11.300,0:15:14.276
Not only that, we're continuing[br]to plant one or two species

0:15:14.300,0:15:16.260
and weed out the aspens and birches.

0:15:17.260,0:15:19.836
These simplified forests lack complexity,

0:15:19.860,0:15:23.276
and they're really vulnerable[br]to infections and bugs.

0:15:23.300,0:15:25.196
And as climate changes,

0:15:25.220,0:15:27.500
this is creating a perfect storm

0:15:29.420,0:15:32.996
for extreme events, like the massive[br]mountain pine beetle outbreak

0:15:33.020,0:15:35.060
that just swept across North America,

0:15:35.820,0:15:39.140
or that megafire in the last[br]couple months in Alberta.

0:15:40.980,0:15:43.300
So I want to come back[br]to my final question:

0:15:44.980,0:15:46.756
instead of weakening our forests,

0:15:46.780,0:15:50.340
how can we reinforce them[br]and help them deal with climate change?

0:15:51.700,0:15:55.716
Well, you know, the great thing[br]about forests as complex systems

0:15:55.740,0:15:58.780
is they have enormous[br]capacity to self-heal.

0:15:59.700,0:16:01.116
In our recent experiments,

0:16:01.140,0:16:04.596
we found with patch-cutting[br]and retention of hub trees

0:16:04.620,0:16:08.756
and regeneration to a diversity[br]of species and genes and genotypes

0:16:08.780,0:16:12.620
that these mycorrhizal networks,[br]they recover really rapidly.

0:16:13.940,0:16:18.276
So with this in mind, I want to leave you[br]with four simple solutions.

0:16:18.300,0:16:21.660
And we can't kid ourselves[br]that these are too complicated to act on.

0:16:23.180,0:16:26.380
First, we all need[br]to get out in the forest.

0:16:27.500,0:16:32.036
We need to reestablish[br]local involvement in our own forests.

0:16:32.060,0:16:33.676
You see, most of our forests now

0:16:33.700,0:16:36.916
are managed using[br]a one-size-fits-all approach,

0:16:36.940,0:16:41.300
but good forest stewardship[br]requires knowledge of local conditions.

0:16:42.420,0:16:46.100
Second, we need to save[br]our old-growth forests.

0:16:47.020,0:16:52.740
These are the repositories of genes[br]and mother trees and mycorrhizal networks.

0:16:54.620,0:16:56.876
So this means less cutting.

0:16:56.900,0:16:58.940
I don't mean no cutting, but less cutting.

0:16:59.980,0:17:02.635
And third, when we do cut,

0:17:02.660,0:17:04.460
we need to save the legacies,

0:17:05.180,0:17:06.716
the mother trees and networks,

0:17:06.740,0:17:08.875
and the wood, the genes,

0:17:08.900,0:17:12.796
so they can pass their wisdom[br]onto the next generation of trees

0:17:12.819,0:17:15.940
so they can withstand[br]the future stresses coming down the road.

0:17:16.620,0:17:18.700
We need to be conservationists.

0:17:19.819,0:17:22.539
And finally, fourthly and finally,

0:17:23.340,0:17:26.796
we need to regenerate our forests[br]with a diversity of species

0:17:26.820,0:17:29.036
and genotypes and structures

0:17:29.060,0:17:31.820
by planting and allowing[br]natural regeneration.

0:17:32.620,0:17:35.516
We have to give Mother Nature[br]the tools she needs

0:17:35.540,0:17:38.260
to use her intelligence to self-heal.

0:17:39.180,0:17:42.236
And we need to remember[br]that forests aren't just a bunch of trees

0:17:42.260,0:17:43.516
competing with each other,

0:17:43.540,0:17:45.460
they're supercooperators.

0:17:46.700,0:17:48.356
So back to Jigs.

0:17:48.380,0:17:52.836
Jigs's fall into the outhouse[br]showed me this other world,

0:17:52.860,0:17:55.556
and it changed my view of forests.

0:17:55.580,0:17:58.916
I hope today to have changed[br]how you think about forests.

0:17:58.940,0:18:00.196
Thank you.

0:18:00.220,0:18:05.997
(Applause)