A Portrait of the Tree

It is a question that I have spent the past four years asking any number of people – conservationists, campaigners, adventurers, gardeners, landowners – all with their own personal tale of how these giants of the natural world have touched their lives in a profound and intimate way.

I have always had a strong affinity with trees, having grown up in Scotland surrounded by woodlands and forests. My earliest memory was sheltering under a Scots pine on a fishing trip with my father aged six or seven. It’s where I caught my first brown trout, and I am happy to say that the tree is still standing proud overlooking Loch Tulla in Glencoe - and it’s my favourite.

My life’s journey has made me realise how important trees are to us: they provide us with the very air we breathe, soaking up and capturing carbon from the atmosphere and converting it into oxygen. They stabilise our soil,and help to limit flooding. They provide shelter and food for wildlife, from multitudes of tiny insects to tawny owls, bats and deer.

In our cities, it is estimated that trees can reduce temperatures by as much as 7°C and their canopies trap dust and pollutants from the air. Some of the world's most important pharmaceuticals, like aspirin, are derived from trees and doctors are now realising the importance of the environment in helping patients recover too.

Our pagan ancestors worshipped trees but for many of us nature has been pushed out of our lives. In the United Kingdom today, only 13 per cent of land is covered in trees, compared to an average of 35 per cent elsewhere in Europe. From a land rich in forests and woodlands, we have become a nation literally stripped bare of this most valuable of natural resources.

‘The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity and some scare see nature at all. But to the eyes of a man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.’

- William Blake

People have grown to take trees for granted and forgotten how important they are in every way. Trees are under threat, endangered with disease, global warming, deforestation and pollution. Yet they represent one of our greatest hopes for the future of the planet.

Over the past years I have immersed myself in the world of trees. Trees have lived decades longer than any human being on the planet. They are old and wise, and I have acknowledged that with my artistic vision – A Portrait of the Tree .

My hope is that together the stories and pictures in this book offer a powerful tool to help educate people about the vital role that trees play in all of our lives and in turn give these amazing trees a voice.

A Portrait of the Tree is published by Greenfinch. Find out more about the project on Adrian's website .