Fred Pearce

Environmental journalist and author Fred Pearce looks at the history of our relationship with trees and says we can change it for the better and reforest the world.

Pearce argues that the answer does not lie in planting but in regenerating the world’s existing forests. He says farmers are not the problem but can be part of the solution and that local communities are best placed to protect the world’s forests rather than state protection. And he warns against trends for planting trees and burning them for energy and against aggressive tree-planting policies such as China’s ‘Grain for Green’.

Pearce has been the environmental consultant of New Scientist since 1992. He has written 14 books on environmental and development issues and has been translated into 26 languages.