When I was a child I read a science fiction story that made me think about trees in a new way. In the story, visitors from an advanced civilisation come to our planet and their spaceship lands in the middle of a forest. The aliens have a long conversation with the trees of the forest, and then leave again, happy to think that the inhabitants of earth are noble, intelligent and peaceful. Trees have always fascinated people. They are the biggest living things on our planet, and one of the most beautiful. Trees appear in many religions and have inspired artists for thousands of years.