Transhelvetica #77 - Forest

The forest is the most important terrestrial ecosystem in the world: it has a high level of biodiversity, slows down climate change as the largest carbon dioxide sink, offers a variety of renewable resources and protects us from natural hazards. It is therefore important to protect the forest effectively. And in Switzerland, in contrast to the unrestrainedly built-up and blighted Wiesland, it actually works quite well. If you believe the Federal Statistical Office , the forest area has grown by over 10% in the past 45 years.

With the energy transition, the situation for the forest will change: on the one hand, there will be fewer harmful exhaust gases, but on the other hand, the need for land will increase if the energy requirement is to be increasingly produced domestically and the population continues to grow. That's why, now that the forest is glowing with all the green in the world, we would like to take a look at what is happening between the treetops and the tips of the roots.

The pictures in this issue were taken by photographer Christian Reichenbach, who spent weeks wandering through the most beautiful forests with the forest spirits. The painter Raphaël Renaud painted us a poster that looks like a real forest and looks different every time you look at it.

I recommend this edition as a read after a light forest bath - to read on a soft carpet of moss, while the sun shines through the leaves and the wind tickles the birds in the background. Happy Walden!