The Man Who Planted Trees (French title L'homme qui plantait des arbres ), also known as The Story of Elzéard Bouffier , The Most Extraordinary Character I Ever Met , and The Man Who Planted Hope and Reaped Happiness , is an allegorical tale by French author Jean Giono, published in 1953. It tells the story of one shepherd's long and successful singlehanded effort to re-forest a desolate valley in the foothills of the Alps near Provence throughout the first half of the 20th century. The tale is quite short—only about 4000 words long.

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Plot summary

The tale is narrated by a twenty-year-old man who remains anonymous throughout (although it has been suggested the narrator may perhaps be the author Jean Giono, there is no evidence for this). The story begins in the year 1910, when this young man is undertaking a lone hiking trip through Provence, France, and into the Alps, enjoying the relatively unspoiled wilderness.

The narrator runs out of water in a treeless, desolate valley where only wild lavender grows and there is no trace of civilization except old, empty crumbling buildings. The narrator finds only a dried up well, but is saved by a middle-aged shepherd who takes him to a spring he knows of.

Curious about this man and why he has chosen such a lonely life, the narrator stays with him for a time. The shepherd, after being widowed, has decided to restore the ruined ecosystem of the isolated and largely abandoned valley by single-handedly cultivating a forest, tree by tree. The shepherd, Elzéard Bouffier, makes holes in the ground with his curling pole and drops into the holes acorns that he has collected from many miles away.

The narrator leaves the shepherd and returns home, and later fights in the First World War. In 1920, shell-shocked and depressed after the war, the man returns. He is surprised to see young saplings of all forms taking root in the valley, and new streams running through it where the shepherd has made dams higher up in the mountain. The narrator makes a full recovery in the peace and beauty of the regrowing valley, and continues to visit Bouffier every year. Bouffier is no longer a shepherd, because he is worried about the sheep affecting his young trees, and has become a bee keeper instead.

Over four decades, Bouffier continues to plant trees, and the valley is turned into a kind of Garden of Eden. By the end of the story, the valley has a vibrant ecosystem and is peacefully settled. The valley receives official protection after the First World War. (the authorities mistakenly believe that the rapid growth of this forest is a bizarre natural phenomenon, as they are unaware of Bouffier's selfless deeds), and more than 10,000 people move there, all of them unknowingly owing their happiness to Bouffier. The narrator tells one of his friends in the government the truth about the natural forest, and the friend also helps protect the forest.

The narrator visits the now very old Bouffier one last time in 1945, at the end of World War II. In a hospice in Banon, in 1947, the man who planted trees peacefully passes away.

A true story?

The story itself is so touching that many readers have believed that Elzéard Bouffier was a genuine historical figure and that the narrator of the story was a young Jean Giono himself, and that so the tale is part autobiographical. Certainly, Giono lived during this time. While he was alive, Giono enjoyed allowing people to believe that the story was real, and considered it as a tribute to his skill. His daughter, Aline Giono, described it as "a family story for a long time". However, Giono himself explained in a 1957 letter to an official of the city of Digne:

Sorry to disappoint you, but Elzéard Bouffier is a fictional person. The goal was to make trees likeable, or more specifically, make planting trees likeable.

In the letter, he describes how the book was translated in a multitude of languages, distributed freely, and therefore was a success. He adds that, although "it does not bring me a cent", it is one of the texts of which he is most proud.

Real-life counterparts

Some people claim that people in other countries have produced similar effects. For example, a man called Abdul Karim had apparently created a forest out of "nothing" over 19 years, using the same method as Bouffier. ^[1] An organization called Trees for the Future claimed to have assisted more than 170,000 families, in 6,800 villages of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, to plant over 35 million trees. ^[2] Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, founded the Green Belt Movement which planted 30 million trees to restore the Kenyan environment. ^[3]

The character of Bouffier also has some similarity to the legendary early 19th century American tree planter Johnny Appleseed. Another tireless promoter of tree-planting is Marthinus Daneel, Ph.D., Professor of African studies at Boston University and founder of ZIRRCON (Zimbabwean Institute of Religious Research and Ecological Conservation). Daneel has worked with churches for years planting millions of trees in Zimbabwe. Due to instability in Zimbabwe in recent years, such efforts have been significantly curtailed. Similarly, worried about global warming, Bhausaheb Thorat planted 45 million seeds after being inspired by the book. For this he started the Dandakaranya Abhiyaan in June 2006 at Sangamner, Maharashtra, India. Sangamner is on Pune-Nasik highway. UNEP has taken notice of this campaign in its A Billion Tree Campaign in which almost 45 million seedlings have been planted till the date. ^[4] Harmony magazine Tina Anil Ambani has article on Bhausaheb Thorat's global warming awareness efforts & the Dandakaranya Abhiyaan in December 2008 edition. Renowned journalist Huned Contractor has traced his journey in this article. ^[5] Also, the Senior World Chronicle has article on Bhausaheb Thorat's efforts to fight Global Warming by planting trees.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 2006, it was adapted for the stage and puppets by Richard Medrington of in Edinburgh, Scotland. The show has been performed over 350 times since July 2006, including a sold out run at the in 2007.

2009 saw the stage adaption, at Otley Courthouse. Digyorkshire.com previewed the event. ^[6]

Spoken word recordings

In 1985 the Paul Winter Consort recorded an album with Robert J. Lurtsema as the narrator. It was made into a book-on-tape in 1990 by Earth Music Productions. It sounds like a documentary--not an eco-fable. In 1992, the American radio show "Hearts of Space" did a musically-accompanied reading (episode 290, first aired on 15May1992) with narration by the late Robert J. Lurtsema. It has also been recorded for BBC Radio 4 with Bill Paterson narrating.