Author(s): Viki Cramer

Natural History

Most Australians see their world through eucalypts. From towering forests to straggly woodlands, in city parks, by the coast and in the bush, these are the trees that inhabit our familiar landscapes and national psyche.

Yet the resilience of our eucalypt ecosystems is being tested by logging and land clearing, disease and drought, fire and climate change. In many places they are a faded remnant of those known by past generations. How important is the memory of these trees?

In search of answers, Viki Cramer takes us on a journey through the richest botanical corner of the continent, exploring forests of rugged jarrah and majestic karri, woodlands of enduring salmon gum and burnished-bark gimlet.

Spending time with the people caring for these precious places, she interrogates the decisions of the past, takes a measure of the present and glimpses hope for the landscapes of tomorrow.

The Memory of Trees will make you look anew at the trees and environments that sustain us and show the many ways that, together, we can ensure their future.