Ghost forest visits Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square, London, has been taken over by a ghost forest. Artist Angela Palmer intends to inspire and provoke debate about the future of the world's rainforests with her installation of rainforest tree stumps from Western Africa.

Standing in Trafalgar Square for one week, the art exhibition features tree stumps from nine different species sourced from Suhuma forest reserve, a commercially logged tropical forest in Western Ghana. Ms. Palmer said in a press release this location was particularly appropriate as it is the home of Nelson's Column, which stands 169 feet tall, the approximate height many of the 'Ghost Forest' trees would have stood at in the forest. The artist originally planned to show the stumps in an upright position, but when she saw the roots cleaned of any soil she said "it was like seeing the nerve endings of the planet". The stumps will be shown on their sides with the roots showing on most of the pieces.

Courtesy of Angela Palmer

Ghost Forest, Nelson's Column

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The idea to bring the rainforest trees to England came to Ms. Palmer after becoming alarmed over the statistics concerning the world's rainforests. She said Andrew Mitchell, director of the international scientific alliance, the Global Canopy Programme and an adviser on rainforests to Prince Charles, told her "a tropical forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every four seconds, meaning an area twice the size of Belgium is lost every year. The government's then chief scientific adviser said climate change was a greater threat to humanity than terrorism. The decision to do something was easy; the logistics have been a nightmare." Ms. Palmer's decision to source the tree stumps in Ghana stem from the fact that over the last 50 years, 90 per cent of that country's primary rainforests have been lost, but there is now a determination in Ghana to preserve what is left, and it is now at the vanguard of a responsible and sustainable forestry. "This is not yet another message about climate change doom and gloom", says the artist, 'It carries a message of hope and optimism for the future." When the Trafalgar show wraps up on November 22, it will then move to Thorvaldsens Plads, a city centre square in Copenhagen, to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference from December 7-18. In Copenhagen, the Ghost Forest will stand as a symbol of threatened rainforests throughout the world, as 11,000 delegates from 192 countries debate their future, says the press release.

Courtesy of Angela Palmer

Ghost Forest

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