Humans have interacted with forests since time immemorial. The evolution of humanity’s connections to forests illuminates how we interact with nature in a changing climate today. By understanding our past, we can contextualize our present situation and inform current and future decision-making. The Yale Forest Forum is proud to host a trilogy of seminars covering the inextricably linked histories of people and forests. In the spring 2025 Yale Forest Forum speaker series, we will examine ancient forests and their interactions with people in the pre-industrial period. Speakers will survey various forest regions and represent different cultural histories, ranging from swidden farming of forest peoples in the Amazon and Southeast Asia, to ancient forest-based civilizations such as the Maya, to medieval forests of Europe and Mughal India. Attendees will gain an understanding of the origins of pre-industrial forest practices worldwide, compare differences and similarities among regional forest histories, and connect people to place and practice through pre-industrial forestry.
Join us every Thursday from January 23 to April 3 from 12:00-1:00pm U.S. EST. Note that there will not be a webinar on March 13.
The series is free and open to the public. Each session will be recorded. We will offer CEUs for foresters in attendance. Please email yff@yale.edu (link sends e-mail) for further information.
Series Hosts
The spring 2025 speaker series is co-hosted by The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment (link is external) and the Forest History Society (link is external).
Series Facilitators
The series is facilitated by Mark Ashton (link is external) (The Forest School at YSE), Gary Dunning (link is external) (The Forest School at YSE), and Tania Munz (link is external) (Forest History Society).
Photo: A rain-fed system of smallholder rice paddy cultivation, tree gardens, and a tea farm in Sri Lanka in the 1990s. Mark Ashton.
