Listening to the Forest: What Soil and Cooperation Teach Us

At a time when forests are often reduced to numbers (carbon sinks, hectares lost, biodiversity indexes) Wohlleben’s Forest Academy takes a different approach: helping people experience forests as living systems that can only be protected if they are truly seen and understood.

Wohlleben’s Forest Academy is an impact education and consulting organization dedicated to imparting deep forest knowledge, initiating public debate, and protecting existing forests in Germany. In practice, this means educating thousands of people every year through on-site programs, social media, and their own podcast, while simultaneously engaging in political and practical forest protection. A central pillar of their work is the UrwaldProjekt (Primeval Forest Project), which has been recognized by the United Nations as the leading forest protection project in Germany.

For the Academy’s founder Tobias Wohlleben, this path is deeply personal. Growing up close to the forest, nature has always been part of his life. But witnessing how even Germany’s last old beech forests continue to disappear became the decisive motivation to commit fully to their protection.

In this conversation, we explore what forests can teach us about cooperation and resilience, why soil plays a crucial role beneath everything we see, and how reconnecting with nature can feel empowering rather than overwhelming.

What is Wohlleben’s Forest Academy, what do you do in practice, and what personally inspired you to take this path?

Wohlleben’s Forest Academy is an impact education and consulting company that imparts in-depth forest knowledge, initiates public debates, and protects existing forests through the UrwaldProjekt (Primeval Forest Project).

This means that we educate thousands of people locally every year about forests and nature, provide information on social media and through our own podcast. At the same time, we are politically and practically committed to forest protection in Germany  - among other things through political events attended by federal ministers, scientists, and public figures, as well as through our UrwaldProjekt. This project has been recognized by the United Nations as the top forest protection project in Germany.

As the son of a forester, nature - and especially the forest - has always been close to my heart. Seeing how even in Germany the last old beech forests are disappearing was the decisive motivation for me to consistently campaign for their protection in my professional life as well.

A core part of your work is enabling people to experience nature directly. What changes do you notice in people when they spend time in the forest - beyond facts, knowledge, or explanations?

We don’t have to stray from the facts but quite the contrary. What sets us apart from many others is that we don’t explain, we tell stories. We don’t teach biology like they do in school; we let people marvel at and experience the ecosystem.

We translate the latest scientific findings from dry studies into language that everyone can understand. This enables us to inspire people with enthusiasm for this wonderful world and create a genuine emotional connection. And once you’ve immersed yourself in this world, you’ll be amazed by it forever.

When we look at the forest as a living system - with trees, soil, fungi, microorganisms, and all the life beneath the surface - what can it teach us about cooperation, resilience, and balance, especially in times of crisis?

The forest is a mirror of our society. Many people confuse “survival of the fittest” with competition and struggle (meaning that the strongest prevail). In fact, this is a misunderstanding, and Darwin meant something else: it is not the strongest that survive, but those who are best adapted to the given conditions.

In the forest, we see very clearly that adaptability and community are crucial. In functioning forest ecosystems, trees and other living beings achieve more together than alone. Cooperation is not an ideal there, but a survival strategy.

Perhaps this is precisely where we as a society can learn a lesson: long-term stability is achieved not through competition, but through joint adaptation and cooperation.

Much of what keeps a forest healthy happens out of sight: in the soil and the ecosystems below the surface. Why is this hidden layer so crucial, and why is it often overlooked?

Forest soils have only recently become a focus of attention. Beneath our feet lies a world that we still barely understand. Over 90 percent of the fungal species in Central Europe have not even been discovered yet. This clearly shows how little we actually know about our soils.

Yet they are the foundation of our forests - and ultimately of our own existence. Just as with building a house, if the foundation is not intact, nothing lasting can be built on it.

I believe that it is precisely this ignorance, combined with the invisibility of the processes in the soil, that leads us to underestimate their importance and forget what happens there every day.

Public discussions often focus on trees, carbon, or biodiversity. From your perspective, what role does soil play in the relationship between forests, climate, and life?

Soils are literally the foundation of our existence. Their importance is growing due to climate change.

Intact forests need intact soils. One of the biggest problems we will face in the future will be water - either too much or too little. Healthy forest ecosystems with functioning soils can regulate this: they store winter precipitation and supply trees even in dry summers.

During extreme rainfall, intact forests can absorb and buffer the water. Degraded areas cannot do this. They dry out quickly in summer and are immediately saturated during heavy rainfall, which then leads to flooding in the valleys.

What can healthy forest ecosystems - including healthy soils - teach us about other landscapes, such as agriculture, cities, or even our own gardens?

Forests cool our landscape, increase agricultural yields, and even small green spaces in cities can significantly lower temperatures. This can literally save lives: in Germany alone, several thousand people die every year as a result of heat.

Trees in cities help combat this, but we also need to allow more forests to grow and regenerate our soils.

We can see a clear example in Europe: Spain used to be densely forested before large-scale deforestation changed the landscape dramatically. According to legend, a squirrel could once cross the Iberian Peninsula without touching the ground. 

Today, deforestation is leading to drought, desertification, and increased forest fires. That is why it is so important that we allow more forests to grow again – the good news is that we can actively change this.

Many people sense that something is out of balance, yet feel overwhelmed. How do you communicate responsibility for nature and soil in a way that empowers rather than frightens?

We don’t have to freeze in shock. Take the first step, and you’ll see how much you can achieve.

We can’t save the world on our own - and that’s not a bad thing. But if you have a garden and plant a tree, you can improve your environment easily and directly.

Once you start getting involved, you’ll notice how many people are pulling in the same direction. Setbacks will always exist, but they are much easier to bear when we work together. We do it like the forest: a single tree is great, but an entire forest can change continents.

If someone reading this interview were to take just one step to deepen their relationship with nature - and with the ground beneath their feet - what would you invite them to do?

Leave your fitness watch and cell phone at home, find a quiet spot in the woods, and simply take half an hour to observe and feel nature.

You will quickly notice how your blood pressure drops and your heartbeat slows down because in that moment, you have arrived in your natural environment.