Guest blogger, Maria Ramos, takes a look at five forest documentaries that explore the current relationship between modern humanity and nature.

Guest blogger, Maria Ramos, takes a look at five forest documentaries that explore the current relationship between modern humanity and nature.
For the past 3 years, Dogwood Alliance, NRDC, and SELC have sounded the alarm about the widespread, destructive impacts to our forests, communities and climate caused by the rapidly expanding wood pellet industry. Today’s announcement by Enviva, the largest wood pellet manufacturer in the US, is a clear indication that the collective efforts of our organizations are having a direct impact on the practices of this industry.
There is a growing need to scale up forest protection. While climate talks have resulted in increased commitments to protect forests in the tropics, the accelerated practice in recent years of burning trees from the US in place of coal to generate electricity has gone under the radar.
Dogwood Alliance asked me what the forests mean to me. I could have said clean air (because that’s true), I could have said the beautiful views (also true), or that I use the forests for recreational purposes. But, the answer that rang deeply in my being sounded more like solace.
Recently, I provided oral testimony to the EPA on behalf of the Dogwood Alliance and the forests and the communities we serve.