Seeing the wood for the trees: empire, nation-making and forest management

Abstract

Seemingly operating in an inverse relationship to the declining area of actual forest, the vast wood of publications on the topic continues to grow (thereby likely adding to the deforestation of the books’ subject). The reader can consult global surveys of world forestry, thanks to the outstanding efforts of Michael Williams and Stephen Pyne. National and micro studies also abound for those wanting information about a particular geographical area. All such studies displaying an array of different perspectives on forests: their symbolism, exchange, arrangement in gardens, art, cities—even their biological espionage (the cinchona’s ‘abduction’ from South America to South Asia, for instance)—are all covered. For some scholars, forests are objects of ecological imperialism; for others, tokens of enlightened colonialism, precursors to environmentalism.