Abstract
This chapter questions the anthropocentric assumptions that shape how 'we' think about 'nature' and 'our' relations to the 'natural world'. Focusing on forests as an illustrative example, the chapter suggests that people tend to think about forests in economic terms, as a resource that we can exploit to satisfy our needs now, or conserve in order to satisfy our needs in the future. Rather than focusing on how forests can satisfy human needs, the chapter proposes that we should consider their intrinsic value as forests and think about how environmental politics might differ as a consequence. In doing so, the chapter raises broader issues about the relationship between the human and non-human world, Indigenous knowledges and multispecies justice.