THE GHOST FOREST
Ghost Forest is a major art installation of 10 primary rainforest tree stumps which were brought to Europe from a commercially logged forest in Western Africa by the artist Angela Palmer. The work is intended to highlight the alarming depletion of the world’s natural resources and in particular the continued rate of deforestation. Today, a tropical forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every four seconds, impacting on climate, biodiversity and the livelihoods of indigenous people. The trees in Ghost Forest – most of which fell naturally in storms – are intended to represent rainforest trees worldwide; the absence of their trunks is presented as a metaphor for the removal of the world’s lungs caused through the loss of our forests. The tree stumps were exhibited as a “ghost forest” in Trafalgar Square in London in November 2009, and then in Copenhagen in December during the UN’s Climate Change Conference. The Ghost Forest was then shown on the lawn of Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum for two years before moving in July 2012 to its permanent location, The National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire.
(Scroll down for the Ghost Forest documentary or click here)
![Ghost Forest Installation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_a1ca9dbe80d14ea38ec6be2c9a4ff98b~mv2_d_2848_4256_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_220,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_a1ca9dbe80d14ea38ec6be2c9a4ff98b~mv2_d_2848_4256_s_4_2.jpg)
Trafalgar Square, London
![Ghost Forest Installation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_195b145141dd45e298ea15fbb234f0fb~mv2_d_4072_2664_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_96,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_195b145141dd45e298ea15fbb234f0fb~mv2_d_4072_2664_s_4_2.jpg)
View of the Ghost Forest installation and the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London
![Ghost Forest Installation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_abf9ddcc36ab4602a6e77c0aea47a546~mv2_d_4218_2789_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_97,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_abf9ddcc36ab4602a6e77c0aea47a546~mv2_d_4218_2789_s_4_2.jpg)
BBC Arts Editor covering the Ghost Forest
![Ed Milliband talking to Angela](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_45373cb3d45445dd82e0725462d25a22~mv2_d_4000_3000_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_110,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_45373cb3d45445dd82e0725462d25a22~mv2_d_4000_3000_s_4_2.jpg)
Trafalgar Square, London
![Ghost Forest media coverage](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_da4926ff67b3460c9e39760b304102fd~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_da4926ff67b3460c9e39760b304102fd~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg)
CNN Arts Editor covering the Ghost Forest
![Ghost Forest being transported](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_95aaf46b97c3465e9a4e274f6cc85872~mv2_d_2130_2070_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_143,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_95aaf46b97c3465e9a4e274f6cc85872~mv2_d_2130_2070_s_2.jpg)
London
![Angela Palmer and team](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_202cc990f74b44a1b41de7722c79d2ed~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_202cc990f74b44a1b41de7722c79d2ed~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg)
Angela Palmer talking logistics with her team
![Ghost Forest installation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_cf02dce30b6443a1a3846b29057ec49e~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_cf02dce30b6443a1a3846b29057ec49e~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg)
Being installed into Trafalgar Square, London
![Ghost Forest at Thorvaldens Plads](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_88e2bc5f7e7a4e3b803ac604d9010012~mv2_d_3638_2540_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_103,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_88e2bc5f7e7a4e3b803ac604d9010012~mv2_d_3638_2540_s_4_2.jpg)
Ghost forest at Thorvaldens Plads, Copenhagen for the G20 Climate summit
![Ghost Forest media coverage](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_16184e931eff4daeae1dcda31486218c~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_16184e931eff4daeae1dcda31486218c~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg)
BBC Science Editor, David Shukman covering the Ghost Forest in Thorvaldens Plads, Copenhagen during the G20 summit
![Ghost Forest in Oxford](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_3e62e2c4b6f24fd5ae60b80753697925~mv2_d_3323_2723_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_120,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_3e62e2c4b6f24fd5ae60b80753697925~mv2_d_3323_2723_s_4_2.jpg)
The Ghost Forest outside the Natural History Museum, Oxford
![Angela Palmer and Kofi Annan](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_5da2bc9b520a444e9e5e9d5b606cac6e~mv2_d_2400_3000_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_184,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_5da2bc9b520a444e9e5e9d5b606cac6e~mv2_d_2400_3000_s_4_2.jpg)
The Artist talks to former Secretary General of the United Nations
![Artist in Ghana](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_87a6346071c44f0a8c54772f217490e6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_125,h_83,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_87a6346071c44f0a8c54772f217490e6~mv2.jpg)
Angela Palmer in Ghana
![Ghost Forest, Ghana](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_c8fb49165d3c4e249a880e2487a85b0a~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_98,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_c8fb49165d3c4e249a880e2487a85b0a~mv2_d_4368_2912_s_4_2.jpg)
The tree stumps being measured in Ghana
![Ghost Forest transportation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_d8d4c88fdfc242ba9736e62353a895dd~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_112,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_d8d4c88fdfc242ba9736e62353a895dd~mv2.jpg)
The Ghost Forest being transported from Ghana
![Ghost Forest transportation](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_72a3d0f359024826a8573ddf91415adb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_106,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_72a3d0f359024826a8573ddf91415adb~mv2.jpg)
The Ghost Forest being transported from Ghana
![The Ghost Forest being cleaned](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/96fa2d_f9b8f5156f3e4d4d89e7e9ddb54f6aca~mv2_d_1600_1200_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_110,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/96fa2d_f9b8f5156f3e4d4d89e7e9ddb54f6aca~mv2_d_1600_1200_s_2.jpg)
The Ghost Forest being cleaned in Ghana ready for transportation