an approach to resilience

text for the great forest dialogue day in the context of my project signal extraction, awarded by the kone foundation

april 2025

motivated by the opportunity to participate in this gathering (in my case, online), I registered under the provisional (and somewhat generic) title on connections with forests, intending to engage in conversations with strangers about our relationship with forests. this took place on march 19, with the hope that someone would email me to arrange a time for a meeting. today, april 2, at 10 a.m., I am still waiting for signs from the virtual world. it happens, and I fully understand. undoubtedly, the most stimulating aspect of these gatherings is being physically present, without the mediation of a screen: the aroma of slightly burnt coffee, the discomfort of that pretentiously designed wooden chair, the strong scent of a newly installed carpet, letting my gaze wander around the room while listening to others. I do not deny that connections can be made through a device, but, without wanting to sound archaic, they are very different experiences: along the way, fiber optics dilute many nuances. undeniably, physical presence is the most fitting environment for what today’s event proposes.

so, with no one to converse with but myself, in the solitary ecosystem of my home, I decide to go ahead with this meeting regardless. it was maría zambrano, in clearings in the forest, who reflected on how internal dialogue becomes a path toward self-knowledge and transcendence. perhaps I will not reach such heights, but at the very least, in my case, it will surely help me organize the notes I intended to share in the hypothetical online meeting. therefore, I proceed. I believe this is the right approach, as it directly connects to some of the aspects I wanted to share in this non-talk: resilience, adaptability, conviviality, and otherness. these are themes that clearly fit within the framework suggested by the title, even if it cannot be denied that it has a somewhat aseptic tone. it has now changed.

following my notes, it is easy to deduce that one of the main axes of the meeting was to share some thoughts on the decidedly non-neutral (nor equidistant) stance of jean-baptiste vidalou, as presented in the book être forêts: habiter des territoires en lutte. an inspiring read that unsettles and challenges, probably because it speaks of people who truly live in these spaces from a dissident position against extractivist and territorial planning logics. a daily practice marked by the defense of these places, much more connected and, therefore, more coherent than my own. I do not consider my approach sterile, but it is true that my relationship with forests is more projected, less tangible. although I inhabit them whenever I can, I do not do so in the way the author proposes or describes.

one of the central issues vidalou addresses is how forests have historically been refuges for communities seeking autonomy and protection from external forces. hence, ‘the logic’ of logging has been so prevalent in western culture since the expansion of the roman empire. forests were considered the habitats of barbarians (from the latin barbarus, meaning foreigner, someone outside roman civilization), making it convenient to eliminate these landscapes, which also obstructed ‘visibility’. thus, it was not only a matter of resources but also a strategy to eradicate spaces of sovereignty through the exercise of subjugation.

since the romans did not fully level the continent, during the middle ages these places became havens for heretics, fugitive peasants, and other persecuted groups, prompting attempts at regulation and privatization under feudal law. while forests had long been perceived as mysterious, magical, and dangerous places, it was during this period that the idea of forests as domains of witches, spirits, and supernatural beings began to take root in popular culture. the medieval christian tradition significantly contributed to constructing this narrative, associating these spaces with the wild, the diabolical, and the dark, in contrast to the city, the symbol of order and civilization.

these enclaves became the last refuge of pagan worship and the dwelling of many women accused of witchcraft: healers, midwives, or wise women who lived on the outskirts of villages, where they could collect medicinal herbs and practice their knowledge without the oversight of the clergy or local authorities. the forest thus became a space of autonomy: there, they could live outside the patriarchal control of feudal and peasant society. In the context of a system of male authority, those ways of life associated with nature—considered "animalistic" or "feminine"—were seen as uncontrollable and were therefore diminished by a mindset that denied any form of otherness.

centuries later, from the late 17th to the late 19th century, the first historical measures were implemented under the banner of 'rationalization' or 'forest planning.' paradoxically, although forested areas globally increased during this period, the forest, as a living and autonomous entity, began to recede. more trees were planted, but their biological dimension was lost. forests came to be seen as a resource, merely a reserve of timber for industry, construction, and imperial expansion. this led to monoculture forestry and homogeneous plantations of fast-growing species, such as pines or eucalyptus, managed under a bureaucratic and state-driven approach that often ignored the vital balance of ecosystems. thus, a landscape emerged, as organic as it was artificial, which persists to this day.

finland, despite having a history distinct from that of central european countries, follows the same territorial management approach. although 75% of its land is covered with trees, it is estimated that 90% of this area is designated for industrial purposes. this reality highlights a paradox: the forest has been domesticated and turned into a managed resource rather than preserved as an autonomous ecosystem. while some areas of virgin forest still exist, particularly in lapland, most finnish forests have been transformed into timber production spaces. these forests are primarily taiga (boreal forest), characterized by acidic soils and a cold climate, favoring the prevalence of hardy species such as pines and firs. the monoculture forestry model is impoverishing the soil and affecting ecological resilience, leading to the loss of species dependent on old-growth forests, such as certain lichens, fungi, and birds.

all of this is part of the broader process of domesticating the living world, which reduces both humans and non-humans to mere raw materials. the anthropocene advances, colonizing everything that has not yet been subdued—a process that forces us to relinquish previous cultural forms and generates a state of amnesia. this erodes our connection to places and disrupts any genuine relationship with their context. the ancient emotional ties to the land, conceived as home, have been deeply damaged. this uprooting distances us from the ancestral worldview in which, for instance, myths played a fundamental role. gone are the stories in which the world tree (maailmanpuu) trapped the sun and moon among its branches, while tapio, the protective spirit of the forests and lord of wild animals, roamed alongside mielikki, goddess of hunting and healing. It seems that only one way of being human remains.

these logics of spatial organization, so deeply shaped by centralized administrations, also influence how we relate to "protected" areas. national parks have become showcases, designed solely for visual consumption. the preservation of these spaces is now based on integrating them into a new economy of tourism, leisure, and ‘contact with nature’, without considering local people or ecosystems. in many countries, indigenous communities have been displaced from their ancestral lands to create nature reserves, which are later exploited by tourism companies—always under the justification that these communities are incapable of managing the land in a ‘rational’ and ‘efficient’ manner. there are no longer any spaces free from external restrictions, nor even the very idea of them, eliminating any living, everyday relationship with the forest: gathering, hunting, and inhabiting are no longer allowed. an urban vision of nature is imposed, in which visitors are mere spectators who "experience" it without truly being part of it.

the general trend toward the privatization of the world leads to a vision in which humans are no longer full participants in life on earth but rather elements trapped within a complex mechanism. the so-called new commons (alternative management models) have failed to dismantle the dominant conceptual frameworks based on binary and abstract oppositions; on the contrary, these remain more present than ever. both capitalism and the ecological crisis push toward the homogenization of ways of life, erasing the diversity of experiences and relationships with the world.

in this state of affairs, the sense of individual powerlessness goes hand in hand with the idea that climate change-related phenomena seem to emerge out of nowhere. our evident dependence on intangible entities (global markets, ai, corporations) and distant forces has made us forget how to interact with our immediate surroundings. we have been stripped of tools for direct action while simultaneously experiencing a crisis of perception.

we live in an era in which our pace of life is no longer shaped by natural or cultural cycles, further exacerbating this ‘division’. contemporary life, marked by constant movement and individualism, has led to a loss of identity and a feeling of existential emptiness. for simone weil, modern societies, increasingly cosmopolitan and focused on material progress, have lost the ability to cultivate deep bonds between humans and their environment. in this process, we have forgotten our ‘emotional astronomy’, as well as ‘affective ecology’ and ‘geographical consciousness’, along with a certain ‘spirituality’ that once connected us to the planet.

here, it is no longer just about the forest itself but about the uses and connections we establish with it. about being part of its fabric rather than experiencing it from a place of detachment. weaving singular relationships. because if we truly inhabit them, we will understand them from perspectives beyond the quantifiable (figures, resources, and data), finding a deeper connection—the rootedness that weil considered essential for achieving a fulfilling life and a true sense of belonging.

from this, something tangible and present may emerge—something less inert, distant from the administrative processes centered on optimization that dominate modern narratives in favor of productivity. it is about inhabiting these spaces in an improvised, even anarchic way, yet still with responsibility. about sketching, however clumsily, new relationships with the environment. in doing so, new sensibilities can arise—shared sensibilities that grow as an alternative to that military science known as territorial planning. not everything has a calculable value; not everything is based on financial management.

this is the commonality that glenn albrecht calls sumbios (living together): coexistence between humans and other living beings. life sustains itself through life, working together to persist. along the same lines, aldo leopold proposed understanding nature not as a resource to be exploited but as a community in which every being has a role and intrinsic value. only in this way can true land health be achieved.

it is necessary to dismantle the old rationalist and cartesian idea that urges humans to be ‘masters and possessors of nature’. we must generate new words, new logics, and erode that cultural construction. what the west calls growth is nothing more than progress devoid of meaning—a narrative always linked to the survival of the fittest, to a constant struggle.

biology provides irrefutable evidence that the fundamental pillars of life are interconnection, diversity, cooperation, homeostasis, and symbiosis. the stability necessary for life’s persistence arises precisely from the homeostasis between different living beings. it is now widely accepted that cooperation between radically different organisms is not an exception but a key process in evolution. in fact, it represents a significant departure from traditional darwinian models that emphasize competition as the primary evolutionary force.

it is in this more direct and even intimate relationship with our surroundings that, following vidalou’s ideas, we can recover the tradition of se cacher/se dissimuler (going into the woods) as a form of resistance. protecting what we call the forest is not just an ecological issue but also a political one, as it involves defending ways of life that challenge the logic of state control and extractivist capitalism—in short, everything "peripheral" that dominant structures seek to silence.

at some point, we may have to become korpikukkia or metsämies* in order for the forest to become a radically political space—truly connected and experienced. A shared and lived space. only through collective and organized action will we be able to face the challenges ahead, always as a coordinated effort and commitment among all involved actors. this requires us to reflect on our values, examine how certain narratives have shaped our ambivalent relationship with forests, and, above all, find a balance between today’s dichotomy: industrial exploitation and untouchable reserves—seeking a hybridization through new organizational models.

our current perspective grants us the ability to analyze and evaluate our past actions (or historical mistakes?) as a species, guided by logical and ethical principles. we must assume this privilege as a great responsibility—one that is urgent to exercise—because nature is all we have and all we are.


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*korpikukka refers to the forest flower or to people who inhabit and find meaning in nature, particularly in the finnish forests.
metsämies, on the other hand, refers to the ‘man of the forest’, someone deeply connected with nature, especially the forest, and who has developed a symbiotic relationship with it.