In Southeastern North Carolina, water is rising, forests are falling, wildlife is vanishing. To save what’s left of our precious trees, Coastal Plain Conservation Group, in association with Amphibious Productions, is creating a new TV series to change the way you see, think about, and experience trees.

The time for action is now. Help us protect what’s left.

Learn more about the new TV series, Speaking of Trees. Keep scrolling for details.

Speaking of Trees is a series of cinematic hikes in accessible forests throughout North Carolina to discover iconic trees and the ecological community connected to them and us. 

Using a mix of levity, brevity, and the occasional unwitting (and, perhaps, unedited) blunder, our hosts, Andy Wood, a seasoned naturalist and forest denizen, and Rachel Lewis Hilburn, a curious journalist from the suburbs, hike their way to an iconic tree.  The gap between Rachel and Andy's experience in the woods, as well as their divergent comfort levels in the wild is, well, all part of the journey.   

The goal of each episode:  for Andy and Rachel to find their iconic tree, while along the way, discovering the connections that link the forest, the animals, and the people of North Carolina.  

The goal of the series:  to inspire viewers of all ages and abilities to get outside on their own healthy adventure. 

To view the Speaking of Trees test video, click here.

WHY SPEAKING OF TREES?

• A robust and growing body of research continues to reinforce the psychological, cognitive, and physical health benefits of spending time in nature.

• As the pull of the digital, virtual world tightens its grip, we detach even further from nature.  Researchers at UC Berkeley set out recently to discover whether it's true that we are less connected to nature than we were 100 years ago. Their study "suggests that it is—and that may be bad news not only for our well-being but also for the environment."  Further, researchers note that the current generation of children can name more "Pokemon characters than wildlife species."

• The Natural Resources Defense Council is leading a campaign to protect our forests, and in 2024, they saw more than 130 signatories from 39 countries sign the International Day of Forests statement urging accountability on forest protection.  While countries around the world have made "groundbreaking" commitments, says the NRDC, they have failed to follow through on those commitments. 

At Speaking of Trees, we believe that showing people the pathways to connect with forests will renew physical and emotional connections with our natural world, making life better for all. 

Synopsis

We live in a world overwhelmed by chaos: traffic, insistent email, text, and social media alerts, blinking lights that never go off, blaring alarms that fuel nothing but consumption.  The cacophony of meaningless soundscapes obscures a focus on the present, and it’s not making us any happier.  To the contrary, research shows we’re more depressed and anxious than ever.

Yet the remedy is ancient and baked into our DNA: go for a walk outside.

This is the pitch; actually, it’s the plea of the show. We want to inspire people to go on easy-to-access, easy-to-complete hikes. “Forest bathing” is the term du jour, but we all know instinctively the benefits and joys of being among the trees, breathing the air, and listening to the chorus of life.  Walks in nature help us remember who we are and rekindle our deep connections with the world around us.

Our objective in each episode is to find an iconic tree that can represent its species while wowing the audience. A “McGuffin,” sure, but it gives the show structure and a gentle motivation to dive into the forests of North Carolina.

Our guide, Andy, is eager to explore and pontificate, so it’s the job of his companion, Rachel, to keep up, ask questions, and interpret his outpouring of information for the viewer. The banter is informal but informative, with a touch of humor. 

We also use post-interviews with Rachel to interject, Parks and Recreation style, a few comments for context and levity.

There will be a few stops along the way. These are opportunities for our hosts to ponder, say, how a river is connected to other places: from mountains to sea. Or a chance to unearth a snail and explain what it could be up to. To see signs of how humans have made use of North Carolina's forests for millennia. Maybe simply to breathe the fresh air and reflect on our place in the world.

The show will lean into its geography, highlighting the connections that bind a human community’s natural heritage to the natural history of the ecosystem within which it resides. In other words, connecting people to nature at community scale by encouraging people to gear up and go hiking themselves.  

And, of course, the show is full of wildlife — songbirds and their musical calls, raptors soaring above.  We’ll explore the small world hidden underfoot, bugs and lizards, frogs and mushrooms. Alligators, box turtles, pond scum. We’ll explore snails because, well, Andy likes them, and they are connected to everything.  Even to us, it turns out.

Everything culminates at the tree we set out to find. After some brief hijinks (mostly unwitting) from the hosts, the show will end with a montage that brings together the community of people, plants, and wildlife we visited in the show. 

The totem tree before which Andy and Rachel stand serves as the visual climax and connection point and, in some cases, a sentinel alerting us to happenings in nature that we may ignore to our peril: the conservation context before we release viewers to reality, refreshed, informed, and ready to get some hiking shoes.

FINANCIAL / FUNDRAISING GOALS: 

Season 1 is made up of six episodes.  To begin, we will produce each episode for just under $10,000.  For the season, we have a budget of $75,000.  

To make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit Southern Conservation Partners, fiscal sponsor of Coastal Plain Conservation Group, and scroll down the home page to the gold "DONATE" button.  On the dropdown menu, click "Speaking of Trees" to designate the donation for this project.  

Thanks to our growing and enthusiastic supporters so far, we are set to shoot our first full episode beginning May 6, 2024.