Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest

Tucked into Madison Square Park is an unexpected installation. At first it strikes one as curious – odd leafless trees in a cluster, framed by the Manhattan skyline.

This is a statement piece by Mia Lin, an extraordinary way of making climate change visible. She has literally brought a dying forest to the city, so that urban dwellers can experience first hand what is happening to landscapes far from their everyday lives.

The strand of 49 American white cedar trees in Ghost Forest, as explained in placards around the park, came from the New Jersey Pine Barrens. They had been infiltrated by salt water due to sea level rise, and also were affected by increased winds and fire. Lin wanted to bring attention to the mass die-offs of once healthy woodlands. In the past, Atlantic white cedars were plentiful on the East Coast, proving at least 500,000 acres of habitat for plants and animals. They have dwindled to below 50,000 acreas and are now endangered.

“The harsh magnitude of planetary vulnerability in communities and the environment is a significant subject in Lin’s practice.”

Standing amid the trees, feeling their dying presence, really brings home the harm humans are doing to the planet.