LOOKING FURTHER

It’s hardly the usual build-up to Christmas. As the UK continues to tackle coronavirus, it’s uncertainty and silence that fills the air rather than joy, laughter and that more 21st century sound of Christmas: the babble of shoppers. But, with several companies offering online delivery, one aspect of the festive period may yet stay the same – the Christmas tree. After all, if we’re going to spend so long at home, why not fill it with the heartening scent of pine. Yet, how many of us really know much about these lifeforms from a forest far away, which come to briefly share our home?

It’s easy enough to find out where your selected tree was grown – it might be Denmark or Norway or even the UK. But this is only the second half of the story. Before growing, someone has to pick the seeds and a huge number of these come from one small region in Georgia. Eighty per cent of Nordmann fir trees sold in Europe are thought to have started life in the Caucasian nation, which exports between 25 and 70 tonnes of Nordmann seeds annually. On page 22, Clément Girardot and Julien Pebrel travel to meet the men who pick these seeds. Unsatisfied at low prices and poor workers’ rights, they may well wish that Christmas tree consumers were willing to look a little further into their trees’ lifecycle.

Looking further also lies at the heart of Chris Fitch’s investigation into the statistics frequently circulated about climate migration (page 28). Vast numbers of people have long been predicted to leave their homes due to the climate crisis, but where do these figures really come from? And how can they be verified? What Chris finds is a situation much more complex than simplistic headlines suggest, revealing that in the face of the challenges to come it’s important to be prepared, both to face the threats and to carefully question them.