Matt Collins, author of Lonely Planet’s The Tree Atlas and Head Gardener at London’s Garden Museum talks to Travel about trees, London’s best green spaces and US road trips. What message are you hoping to get across in Lonely Planet’s The Tree Atlas book? The intent of the book is foremost to champion the world’s tree species diversity: to celebrate not only the unique physicality, utility and beauty of the 50 trees chosen from across the globe, but also their essential place within the environment of their origin and what they tell us about particular landscapes and cultures alike. As a travel book, the message is also that these trees don’t necessarily exist out in the remote wilds: many are very accessible and you can get up close to them, touch and experience them, and the more that we connect with nature at a personal level, the more likely we are to champion and protect it.
READ MORE: Lonely Planet book author Anita Isalska learns about life and death from cultures around the world.
