The Guardian view on the cultural life of trees: we must protect our natural heritage | Editorial

From Shakespeare to Radiohead, ancient woodlands have shaped the UK’s creative landscape. They deserve to be celebratedIf the mindless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has taught us anything, it is that there is no such thing as “just a tree”, as one of the perpetrators, Adam Carruthers, told the jury. “It was almost as if someone had been murdered,” he said of the ensuing public outcry. For many it was.Animism runs deeply through our relationship with arboreal life. From Macbeth’s prophetic Birnam Wood to the towering Ents in The Lord of the Rings, trees have long been personified in literature. And, from Constable’s bucolic Suffolk to David Hockney’s Yorkshire wold, they have helped shape Britain’s artistic landscape.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

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