The legacy of Luna

(TW)

This book is a fascinating account of the author's time living in a giant redwood to protect it (or perhaps I should say "her", as Julia Butterfly Hill came to identify very strongly with the tree and converyed her personality to readers) and the surrounding forest from logging. If you read this book hoping for a detailed examination of the consequences of logging or the economic systems that allow it to take place you will be disappointed, but this is instead a deeply personal account of how Ms Butterfly Hill's observation of and sense of connection to the ecosystem around her gave her the strength to endure some incredible hardship, and whatever your opinion of her personal belief system, her determination to connect with her opponents on a human level and to forgive those who do harm is truly inspiring.

The one thing stopping me from giving this five stars is her repeated use of the word "rape" to describe what is being done to the forests. I do appreciate that this is a powerful metaphor for damaging exploitation by the powerful, and that technically speaking this is probably an appropriate use of the word, but I do feel that equating the damage done to a forest ecosystem which however complex cannot think or feel in the same way a person can with the psychological trauma caused to a sentient human being is rather dismissive of the latter. But I also appreciate that Ms Butterfly Hill isn't the only environmentalist who uses the word in this context.