
Our Green Heart
The Soul and Science of Forests
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $22.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Diana Beresford-Kroeger
About this listen
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
In this inspiring culmination of Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s life’s work as a botanist, biochemist, biologist and poet of the global forest, she delivers a challenge to us all to dig deeper into the science of forests and the ways they will save us from climate breakdown—and then do our part to plant and protect them.
As the last child in Ireland to receive a full Druidic education, Diana Beresford-Kroeger has brought an unusual and ancient holistic attitude to the science of trees, which has led her to many fresh insights into how closely we are tied to one another and to the natural world. Her influential message is to pay rapt attention to trees, because they are the green heart of the living world. Forests are our lungs, our medicine, our oxygen and the renewal of our soil. Planting the right trees in the right places, protecting the last virgin forests and working to create new ones is our best means to ensure a future for our children and grandchildren on this burning earth.
Each of the essays gathered in Our Green Heart show us a slice of the natural world through Diana’s unique lens, illuminating the way our health, individually and as a species, is tied to the health of the forest—a tie we ignore at our peril. She maps the science that still needs to be done—there is so much we don’t know about the ways trees and forests work—but also, eloquently, shows us the path to survival that her own science has revealed, the “bioplan” or blueprint for the connectivity of life in nature. If we realize that even the flowerpot on our doorstep is a natural habitat, and plant it according to its bioplan, we will be aiding and abetting life rather than destroying it.
Critic reviews
“Ethereal. . . . [Diana Bereseford-Kroeger’s] discussions weave together botany, physics and personal reflections with aplomb. . . . Readers willing to accept a dash of the mystical with their science will be entranced.” —Publishers Weekly
“In its captivating tone, [Beresford-Kroeger’s] latest book consists of essays about nature, spirituality, and climate change. She dances artfully between scientific and poetic language [and] her engrossing storytelling ability shines.” —Literary Review of Canada
“The world’s forests may lack a voice of their own, but they have a powerful ally in Diana Beresford-Kroeger. . . . Our Green Heart is the latest tool in Beresford-Kroeger’s arsenal for galvanizing people to combat climate change by supporting trees.” —Zoomer
Related to this topic
-
The Complete Book of Five Rings
- By: Miyamoto Musashi, Kenji Tokitsu - editor/translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Complete Book of Five Rings is an authoritative version of Musashi's classic The Book of Five Rings, translated and annotated by a modern martial arts master, Kenji Tokitsu. Tokitsu has spent most of his life researching the legendary samurai swordsman and his works, and in this book he illuminates this seminal text, along with several other works by Musashi.
-
-
Best translation I have encountered.
- By DW on 05-27-16
By: Miyamoto Musashi, and others
-
From Lukov with Love
- By: Mariana Zapata
- Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Teddy Hamilton
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one. After 17 years - and countless broken bones and broken promises - she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close. But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she's spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
-
-
New Favorite MZ Slow Burn
- By Brittany M on 05-13-18
By: Mariana Zapata
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
Barbarian Days
- A Surfing Life
- By: William Finnegan
- Narrated by: William Finnegan
- Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize, Biography, 2016. Barbarian Days is William Finnegan's memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.
-
-
What a Jerk.
- By ML Sadler on 03-06-17
By: William Finnegan
-
Bigger Leaner Stronger
- The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body
- By: Michael Matthews
- Narrated by: Michael Matthews
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling fitness book for men who want to gain 25-35 pounds of lean muscle and lose as much fat or more in just 3-5 hours per week—and without giving up delicious foods or doing grueling workouts. Is Bigger Leaner Stronger a body building book that can help you pack on brain-shrinking amounts of muscle in 30 days flat? No. Is it a fitness nutrition book full of dubious diet and exercise “hacks” and “shortcuts” for melting belly fat faster than a roided hornet? Absolutely not.
-
-
Narration sounds like a Robot
- By pauly on 07-04-19
By: Michael Matthews
-
The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation
- By: Michael Matthews
- Narrated by: Michael Matthews
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling fitness and self-improvement book for breaking through mental resistance and barriers, building unshakeable discipline, and keeping your goals alive when things get tough.
-
-
Diamond in the rough
- By Mike on 09-03-18
By: Michael Matthews
-
The Complete Book of Five Rings
- By: Miyamoto Musashi, Kenji Tokitsu - editor/translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Complete Book of Five Rings is an authoritative version of Musashi's classic The Book of Five Rings, translated and annotated by a modern martial arts master, Kenji Tokitsu. Tokitsu has spent most of his life researching the legendary samurai swordsman and his works, and in this book he illuminates this seminal text, along with several other works by Musashi.
-
-
Best translation I have encountered.
- By DW on 05-27-16
By: Miyamoto Musashi, and others
-
From Lukov with Love
- By: Mariana Zapata
- Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Teddy Hamilton
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one. After 17 years - and countless broken bones and broken promises - she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close. But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she's spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
-
-
New Favorite MZ Slow Burn
- By Brittany M on 05-13-18
By: Mariana Zapata
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
-
-
They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
Barbarian Days
- A Surfing Life
- By: William Finnegan
- Narrated by: William Finnegan
- Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize, Biography, 2016. Barbarian Days is William Finnegan's memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.
-
-
What a Jerk.
- By ML Sadler on 03-06-17
By: William Finnegan
-
Bigger Leaner Stronger
- The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body
- By: Michael Matthews
- Narrated by: Michael Matthews
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling fitness book for men who want to gain 25-35 pounds of lean muscle and lose as much fat or more in just 3-5 hours per week—and without giving up delicious foods or doing grueling workouts. Is Bigger Leaner Stronger a body building book that can help you pack on brain-shrinking amounts of muscle in 30 days flat? No. Is it a fitness nutrition book full of dubious diet and exercise “hacks” and “shortcuts” for melting belly fat faster than a roided hornet? Absolutely not.
-
-
Narration sounds like a Robot
- By pauly on 07-04-19
By: Michael Matthews
-
The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation
- By: Michael Matthews
- Narrated by: Michael Matthews
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling fitness and self-improvement book for breaking through mental resistance and barriers, building unshakeable discipline, and keeping your goals alive when things get tough.
-
-
Diamond in the rough
- By Mike on 09-03-18
By: Michael Matthews
-
Ranger Confidential
- Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Julia Motyka
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.
-
-
Depressing from Cover to Cover
- By Drew (@drewsant) on 04-13-15
By: Andrea Lankford
-
The Unlikely Thru-Hiker
- An Appalachian Trail Journey
- By: Derick Lugo
- Narrated by: Derick Lugo
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Derick Lugo had never been hiking. He certainly couldn't imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job cut short and no immediate plans, this fixture of the New York comedy scene began to think about what he might do with months of free time. He had heard of the Appalachian Trail, but he had never seriously considered attempting to hike all 2,184.2 miles of it. Suddenly he found himself asking, Could he do it?
-
-
On My Feet All Day
- By bannedbum on 08-21-21
By: Derick Lugo
-
Thinner Leaner Stronger
- The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body
- By: Michael Matthews
- Narrated by: Elliott Denkers
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The bestselling fitness book for women who want to lose up to 35 pounds of fat or more and gain whole-body muscle definition in just 3-5 hours per week—and without giving up delicious foods or doing grueling workouts.
-
-
"The Ultimate Female Body", but uses male examples
- By bookWorm on 06-29-15
By: Michael Matthews
-
The Last Season
- By: Eric Blehm
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada - mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
-
-
Well Written Character Study of an NPS Ranger
- By Kathy in CA on 06-23-16
By: Eric Blehm
-
The Best Hunting Stories Ever Told
- By: Jay Cassell - editor
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 32 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Follow the trails of hunters - the original storytellers - as they interpret signs, examine tracks, and chase and catch their prey (or fail to). Listeners can curl up with the best authentic hunting fiction and non-fiction, bringing the great Mount Kenya and the prairies of the American Bison into your living room. From Theodore Roosevelt and Gene Hill to Rick Bass and Charles Dickens, remember classic hunting tales and discover new stories of hunters’ luck, camaraderie, and use of smarts on the trail.
-
-
A broad collection of hunting tales
- By Elaine on 06-21-15
-
There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
- A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
- By: Linda Åkeson McGurk
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.
-
-
Great concept, interesting writing.
- By Kate on 11-03-17
What listeners say about Our Green Heart
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 03-12-25
Brilliant work
As an organic Farmer, herbalist and land and water protector with very deep Irish roots, I find her ancestral connection to the land to resonate deeply with me, I love her poetic prose mixed with her scientific laser-sharp assessments of how to honor this beautiful earth that we live upon. For anyone who loves trees or the environment, but also wants to connect to their ancestral heritage in the Celtic tradition, this book is a must read. brilliant. I hope to meet her someday. Her words are true inspiration and give hope for this uncertain future.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane Galloway Walkup
- 10-19-24
A Clear Warning
The blend of scientific knowledge, wisdom and poetic expression of this writer was both powerful and profound.Her style reminds me of Father Thomas Berry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lars Pardo
- 01-25-25
one of the best forest books
Such an inspiring book!
Professor Beresford-Kroeger takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey thru global forests. It is a journey of discovery. In their overlooked silence the forests scream for recognition, for an appreciation for their critical contribution to life on Earth. She weaves ideas and questions into solutions - my only question - will anyone take notice?
My only recommendation would be to add an internet link as DrSimard did to her book 'Finding the Mother Tree'. This would allow the reader to follow up w/their own research or become a member of a data base of concerned citizens. Enric Sala's Nature of Nature, Simard's Finding the Mother Tree, Beresford-Kroeger Our Green Heart.....these are my go-to "problem stated, solutions offered" books.
Deepest thanks and appreciation to you, Professor.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-08-24
Brilliant scientist, magnificent storyteller, enchanting narration
Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger is my favorite author in the world. She deserves prizes and awards for her scientific research and discoveries, her crucial and fascinating work with her arboretum to save the important and threatened trees of North America, as well as her captivating writing style and enchanting, absorbing performance narrating. In addition to all that, her life story is a true fairy tale, It's like she time-travelled from the heart of the ancient Celtic world to tell us what we need to know. Her journey to learn what the trees are trying to communicate began when she was a little girl and never stopped. She is a Living Treasure. This audiobook is a precious gem. Don't hesitate. You'll love it. For the good of the whole world, share it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!