Forests, Climate Emergency, And The Undoing Of Mastery
This article develops a philosophical and ecological argument for proforestation, understood as allowing existing forests to grow into their full ecological complexity, as a response to the climate emergency. It critiques the dominant human-centred framing in proforestation and forest–climate debates, in which forests appear primarily as carbon sinks, assets, or nature-based solutions deployed to stabilize the climate for human benefit. Drawing on ecological research, the paper shows how proforestation supports rich habitats for trees, animals, fungi, bacteria, pollinators, and insects, emphasizing the importance of old-growth structures, deadwood, soil microbiomes, and mycorrhizal networks.