sofo:social_forestry

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sofo:social_forestry [2026/04/20 15:35] – [Curator commentary] Otto Haguesofo:social_forestry [2026/04/21 18:25] (current) – [Culture-landscape integration] Simon Grant
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 ====== Social forestry ====== ====== Social forestry ======
  
-{{scan_19_apr_2026_at_08.43.jpg?direct&360}}+{{social-forestry-drawing.jpg?direct&540}}
  
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 ===== How do you do social forestry? ===== ===== How do you do social forestry? =====
  
-A very important part of social forestry is that there //cannot// and //should not// be one way to do things, especially the deeper we get into specifics. In their book, Hazel notes that people would often ask for (or demand!) a "prescription": they wanted to be told what they should be doing! However, the author believes that "prescribing" a specific way of doing things opens up a movement for co-optation by capitalism & colonialism. It is much easier to be an "influencer" selling ideas online if they feel able to remove a technique from its context and deploy it in an entirely different context.+A very important part of social forestry is that there //cannot// and //should not// be one way to do things, especially the deeper we get into specifics. In the book, Hazel notes that people would often ask for (or demand!) a "prescription": they wanted to be told what they should be doing! However, the author believes that "prescribing" a specific way of doing things opens up a movement for co-optation by capitalism & colonialism. It is much easier to be an "influencer" selling ideas online if they feel able to remove a technique from its context and deploy it in an entirely different context.
  
 For example, Hazel writes from the experience of working the land in the West of Turtle Island, in a place called Wolf Gulch which is often short on water. The land there is very dry and has developed over hundred of years of prescribed burns (intentionally-set brushfires) from the indigenous people living there. This is not the case everywhere. Consider Northern Europe, where waterlogging and flooding are much bigger concerns, or Central Asia, which has no coastal fog to deliver water. For example, Hazel writes from the experience of working the land in the West of Turtle Island, in a place called Wolf Gulch which is often short on water. The land there is very dry and has developed over hundred of years of prescribed burns (intentionally-set brushfires) from the indigenous people living there. This is not the case everywhere. Consider Northern Europe, where waterlogging and flooding are much bigger concerns, or Central Asia, which has no coastal fog to deliver water.
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 <figure> <figure>
-![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Nuba_farming_1.jpg?_=20061107125811)+![](sofo:nuba_farming_1.jpg)
 <caption> <caption>
  _A digging stick is a fundamental hand tool, useful for uprooting shallower tubers._  _A digging stick is a fundamental hand tool, useful for uprooting shallower tubers._
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-===== Legacy trees ===== 
  
-A legacy tree is a big, old, hardwood tree, for example, an oak tree. Britain and Ireland have been very heavily deforested, and we don't have many legacy trees left. It is very important for us to protect and nurture these trees!+---- 
 + 
 +===== Social forestry fundamentals ===== 
 + 
 +### Legacy trees 
 + 
 +A legacy tree is a big, old, hardwood tree, for example, an oak tree. Many of us live in lands that have been very heavily deforested, and we don't have many legacy trees left. It is very important for us to protect and nurture these trees!
  
 Hardwood trees have wide crowns: their branches spread out from the trunk. Rainfall will drip from the edge of the crown, and some of it will also flow down the branches to the trunk, providing water to plants below the tree. These trees are also deciduous, meaning that they shed their leaves in the winter. Since they shed their leaves, plants below the tree can drink in the sunlight in the early spring. This water and sun lets hardwood trees co-exist with shorter plants more than softwood evergreens. Legacy trees will also have more cavities, mistletoe clumps, and tangles, which are important homes for animals. Due to how old they are, they have had time to grow mosses and lichens. Hardwood trees have wide crowns: their branches spread out from the trunk. Rainfall will drip from the edge of the crown, and some of it will also flow down the branches to the trunk, providing water to plants below the tree. These trees are also deciduous, meaning that they shed their leaves in the winter. Since they shed their leaves, plants below the tree can drink in the sunlight in the early spring. This water and sun lets hardwood trees co-exist with shorter plants more than softwood evergreens. Legacy trees will also have more cavities, mistletoe clumps, and tangles, which are important homes for animals. Due to how old they are, they have had time to grow mosses and lichens.
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 <figure> <figure>
-![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Major_Oak%2C_Sherwood_Forest_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1198271.jpg?_=20110226003650)+![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Major_Oak%2C_Sherwood_Forest_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1198271.jpg?direct&550)
 <caption> <caption>
  _Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is a great example of a legacy tree. It is a forest feature to orient around, as well as a cultural touchstone. Source: John Palmer / Major Oak, Sherwood Forest / CC BY-SA 2.0._  _Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is a great example of a legacy tree. It is a forest feature to orient around, as well as a cultural touchstone. Source: John Palmer / Major Oak, Sherwood Forest / CC BY-SA 2.0._
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-===== Catchments and guilds =====+### Catchments and guilds
  
 Rivers are like the veins and arteries of our land. They flow across council boundary lines and country borders. Each river is surrounded by a [catchment](https://catchmentbasedapproach.org/get-involved/) or drainage basin. The catchment is the land where, when rain falls there, it will eventually flow into the river. Anything that happens on a catchment will impact the river. **Almost all land in Britain and Ireland is part of a river catchment.**  Rivers are like the veins and arteries of our land. They flow across council boundary lines and country borders. Each river is surrounded by a [catchment](https://catchmentbasedapproach.org/get-involved/) or drainage basin. The catchment is the land where, when rain falls there, it will eventually flow into the river. Anything that happens on a catchment will impact the river. **Almost all land in Britain and Ireland is part of a river catchment.** 
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-===== Communication and a sense of belonging =====+### Communication and a sense of belonging
  
 Our modern culture isolates people from the land and from each other. Social forestry revolves around tight-knit communities which work in conjunction with other communities. Establishing and maintaining community is difficult. The formation of guilds allows people to unite over shared work, and via the relationship-building act of teaching each other. Our modern culture isolates people from the land and from each other. Social forestry revolves around tight-knit communities which work in conjunction with other communities. Establishing and maintaining community is difficult. The formation of guilds allows people to unite over shared work, and via the relationship-building act of teaching each other.
  
-Another major aspect of social forestry community-building is transparency of expectations and decision-making. Resentment builds when people feel like they cannot express their opinions during discussions, or if they feel they have been socially "de-valued" due to breaching a rule they did not know. Clarity and forgiveness are essential. Did someone break a rule out of malice, __or did they not understand the rule or why it is important__?+Our culture also considers only a limited set of skills worthwhile. Consider concepts such as "employability". This isolates the disabled, the sick, and those who have skills in other places. Social forestry explicitly demands the inclusion of //everyone// who is willing to cooperate. Let people settle in slowly, propose their own ideas for things they might do. Ask them questions. What would they like to do? What is stopping them from doing it? Do they understand our shared goals and what needs to be done to achieve them? Never assume! 
 + 
 +Another major aspect of social forestry community-building is transparency of expectations and decision-making. Resentment builds when people feel like they cannot express their opinions during discussions, or if they feel they have been socially "de-valued" due to breaching a rule they did not know. Clarity and forgiveness are essential. Did someone break a rule out of malice, **or did they not understand the rule or why it is important?**
  
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 </figure> </figure>
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- +### Culture-landscape integration
-===== Culture-landscape integration =====+
  
 Many of us live in cultures that are detached from our landscapes. Hazel calls us "Moderns" or "Modern people". We can buy food from halfway around the planet, and our lives can be transplanted from one location to another with relative ease (as long as you have the money and the immigration documents). This is distinct from cultures that have a strong connection to their land. Many of us live in cultures that are detached from our landscapes. Hazel calls us "Moderns" or "Modern people". We can buy food from halfway around the planet, and our lives can be transplanted from one location to another with relative ease (as long as you have the money and the immigration documents). This is distinct from cultures that have a strong connection to their land.
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 How might one establish new practices (or retrofit old ones) that integrate the landscape into our daily lives? That's something to explore. Maybe existing celebrations could have new traditions appended to them, like going and foraging young plants during a springtime celebration. Maybe festivals can be started revolving around a landscape feature, like an "acorn festival" where people help tend to oak trees and collect acorns, and then eat acorn-based treats. **Which landscape features would you celebrate? How might you get others to start doing it?** Sometimes it can be as simple as just //doing it// --- meeting up with friends somewhere public, making banners to draw attention, and let people join in as they take notice. How might one establish new practices (or retrofit old ones) that integrate the landscape into our daily lives? That's something to explore. Maybe existing celebrations could have new traditions appended to them, like going and foraging young plants during a springtime celebration. Maybe festivals can be started revolving around a landscape feature, like an "acorn festival" where people help tend to oak trees and collect acorns, and then eat acorn-based treats. **Which landscape features would you celebrate? How might you get others to start doing it?** Sometimes it can be as simple as just //doing it// --- meeting up with friends somewhere public, making banners to draw attention, and let people join in as they take notice.
 +
 +<WRAP center centeralign>
 +<figure>
 +![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Circular_solar_calendar.png?direct&550px)
 +<caption>
 + _A Northern-hemisphere circular solar calendar, depicting 2 solstices, 2 equinoxes, and 4 cross-quarter days. Traditional Gaelic (triskel symbol) and Christian (crucifix symbol) terms are used._
 +</caption>
 +</figure>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +### Diversity, messiness, and taboo
 +
 +Social forestry embraces diversity and messiness, as the Wild we interface with is diverse and messy. Categories are useful but are not sacred; deviations and exceptions are natural and should be embraced. In human communities, people may not fit nicely into expected roles --- don't force them, find what //does// suit them and let that passion shine. Modern culture demands a narrow set of competencies and manners of self-expression, resulting in a lot of miserable people who have their skills and passions squandered. No wonder Modern culture produces so many "troublemakers"!
 +
 +At the same time, taboos are necessary to maintain good social forestry culture. You might know about the [paradox of tolerance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance). We will all carry our own baggage, but we can't let that baggage go unaddressed if it is undermining the community. 
 +
 +It is essential that community members understand what the taboo is, why it exists, and how it is effective at doing its job. Consider the following rule: "No smoking on the bus". This taboo exists to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke. It is pretty effective, but less so now that there are electronic vapes that people can hide. Some people do not consider it sufficiently important to prevent spreading secondhand smoke, and smoke on the bus anyway. How might the taboo be reworked?
 +
 +<WRAP center centeralign>
 +<figure>
 +![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Crocodile_warning_sign%2C_Bramston_Beach%2C_2018.jpg/960px-Crocodile_warning_sign%2C_Bramston_Beach%2C_2018.jpg?direct&550)
 +<caption>
 + _A warning sign showing both the taboo (no swimming) and also why the taboo exists (crocodiles)._
 +</caption>
 +</figure>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +
 +----
 +
 +
 +===== Considering using social forestry techniques =====
 +
 +Do any of the above fundamentals stand out to you? Are there any that you already practice, or are there ones that you would want to work towards? How might some of these fundamentals be added to the things that you are doing? 
 +
 +It's worth repeating: social forestry practice is //by definition// going to look different in every context. It must be adapted to the landscape and its community and their shared history. This will be iterative, and practice will change over time over trial-and-error. Check back with the fundamentals of land-culture integration, diversity, transparency in rule-making and decision-making, and letting the landscape guide the work we do on it. From that seed, a different plant will grow depending on where you plant it.
  
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  • Last modified: 2026/04/20 15:35
  • by Otto Hague