Call of the Forest is all about the incredible and vital importance of trees. If you want to get motivated to plant trees, this is the film to watch!

“For every breath you take, thank a tree,” says Diana Beresford-Kroeger, the Canadian botanist, author and medical biochemist who co-wrote and hosts this documentary film. “If you’re breathing, the oxygen comes from a tree. There isn’t any other way on this planet to make oxygen.”

Trees all over the world have been producing oxygen, and cleaning and filtering the air, for hundreds of millions of years. Whether we realize it or not, we and the world as we know it depend utterly upon the work of trees.

Among other things, Beresford-Kroeger discusses:

• Why planting trees and replanting forests are our cheapest and best defence against climate change.
• Why Japanese ‘forest-bathing’, or walking in forests, is such a great idea. It has to do with the beneficial effects of aerosol compounds released by trees. “Some of the most complex chemistry that is found on the planet is produced in the furnace of the tree,” Beresford-Kroeger says.
• How both the air and our oceans depend upon the health of the world’s trees and forests.
• Why Professor Akira Miyawaki in Japan is planting ‘tiny forests’ in Tokyo, in spaces sometimes only 3 to 6 feet wide. Miyawaki has 50 years of experience in planting and restoring native species, forests and ecosystems all over the world.
• Why the Boreal Forest of the northern hemisphere is so integral to the planet’s continued health.
• How Germany had the foresight to maintain 30-per-cent-forest cover, despite being a highly industrialized nation. It recently celebrated an enviable 300 years of sustainable forestry practices.

This is a warm, educational film with heart and soul. It is informed by Beresford-Kroeger’s respect and reverence for trees and nature. Born and raised in Ireland, Beresford-Kroeger learned ancient Druid wisdom about trees and nature before she began her career in science.

The film takes us to Japan, Germany, Ireland, the United States and Canada, and introduces us to history, scientists and woodland protectors, as well as trees the world over that are both ancient and sacred.

I highly recommend this film. Though I’ve watched it several times, I learn more each time and will watch it again. Everyone I know that has seen it was enthusiastic.

This DVD, including a 90-minute DVD of extras, can be purchased online, through the Call of the Forest website.

The documentary can also be viewed on TVO’s website in it’s entirety.