Celebrating the Women of SUGi
Camilla, Forest Maker
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The living root bridges made from banyan trees in Meghalaya, Northeast India.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Elegance and resourcefulness.
Deema, Forest Maker
What do you love most about Forest Making?
Learning the language of plants!
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Patience, and faith to embrace uncertainty.
Elise, Founder
What do you love most about Forest Making?
People coming together. Young & Old. The laughter & joy. A magical moment to connect with the land & the plants. Web of Life!
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The Jōmon Sugi.
Gauri, Forest Maker
What do you love most about Forest Making?
The sensation of digging and planting is always joyous!
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Efficiency can be beautiful and relaxed.
Grey, Lead Scientist
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
Mangrove forests - at the cusp between land and sea, they are part of both worlds and are quite magical.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
To sit quietly and observe. In stillness you are able to see many amazing things.
Jenna, Producer
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
Mangrove forests - they have so many benefits from stabilizing coastlines to improving water quality, to their enormous capacity to capture carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The famous Wanaka Willow tree in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand.
Joya, Photographer & Film Maker
What do you love most about Forest Making?
Forest Making is so powerful, you are literally taking things into your own hands and for a brief moment you have agency over your future. You are giving back more than you take, to regenerate the air, soil and biodiversity.
Limbi, Forest Maker
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
Tropical rainforest ecosystem.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Time can change everything.
Lucy, Film Maker
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
I remember the first time I set foot in a Welsh Temperate rainforest, the way the ancient twisted trees curled around each other. The moss, lichen and ferns bursting different hues of green on the forest floor. When people hear the word rainforests most people may think of South America or Asia but they are really right on our doorstep.
Maddie, Impact Director
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
Coastal Temperate Rainforest - their rarity coupled with the fact that their pockets exist across the globe gives me hope.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Take your time and stay present.
Magdalena, Forest Maker
How does your Forest Making influence other parts of your life?
As a mother of three boys, I'm pleased to see their growing sensitivity and care towards nature. They are able to see how dead soil is transformed, with our help, into an area of abundant forest.
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
The sclerophyllous forest that grows in the Mediterranean Climate in Chile.
Marylee, Forest Maker
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Resilience, diversity, beauty and self care. Nature survives so much adversity. It teaches the resilience we need in our lives.
How does your Forest Making influence other parts of your life?
We are all of the Earth. The trees and plants are our elders and give themselves to unite us, to remind us of what we have in common and the magic in diversity. Also, I’ve learned that we all need to heal our own root systems. Beautiful lessons indeed.
Marlene, Forest Maker
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
The Redwood Forest. They grow like a family.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Mother Nature is amazing. Native Americans are one with nature and it has sustained our people since time immemorial.
Natasha, Forest Maker
What do you love most about Forest Making?
The transformation of barren, fallow land into a forest that sheds its leaves in the summer and renews itself every monsoon. I love to see the cycle of life in the forests we plant.
What forest ecosystem most fascinates you?
I am most excited by every little and big mushroom I come across in and around the forests we plant. They are these magical creatures that burst out of the soil, a branch or even a rock, and tell us their story.
Noelie, Forest Maker
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
I'd love to visit Shiratani Unsuikyo Forest on Yakushima Island.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
The biggest lesson that Nature taught me is humility.
Rhea, Forest Maker
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Patience is key. Nature doesn’t hurry yet everything is accomplished.
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The Cherry Blossom trees (Sakura) in Japan
Sheeba, Forest Maker
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Interdependence is the foundation of our lives.
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The Redwoods!
Stephanie, Forest Maker
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
The huge sequoia in Yosemite Park.
How does your Forest Making influence other parts of your life?
Forest Making enables me to witness the growth of these wonderful ecosystems and helps me to be anchored.
Tamsin, Head of Strategy
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
I'd love to visit all the "Moon Trees" that were germinated across the United States from seeds that orbited the lunar surface with the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
Nature reminds me never to be surprised by what's possible with patience, devotion and curiosity.
Teo, Junior Designer
What tree would you most like to travel to meet?
I've recently learnt about the 'El Tule' Tree near near Oaxaca city in Mexico and I would love to go there and sit in this giant's presence.
What is the biggest lesson nature has taught you?
That we take ourselves too seriously.
