Functions of the forest

• The forest is a water reservoir: both canopy and root system help increase water storage in the soil, and mitigate water surface runoff as well as soil erosion. In summer its canopy protects the soil from drying out by reducing water loss through evaporation.

• It is a rainmaker: around 40% of the precipitation over land occurs when trees and other vegetation release water into the atmosphere through a process called evapotranspiration. And these higher evaporation rates also draw in moist air from surrounding areas, so forests don’t just make rain, they also attract rainfall

• It is a habitat for countless animals, plants and fungi: 70% of all species found in Switzerland live in the forest and/or are dependent on it. 2/3 of them live in the soil. All these organisms are part of a food chain. The way in which forests are managed today destroys the soil in the long term

• It is an oxygen producer, for trees inhale CO₂ and exhale oxygen, filtering out air pollution with every breath

• And it is and remains an important CO₂ sink (in fact, the world’s forests have helped reduce the CO₂ content in the atmosphere from over 2,500ppm to today’s level of just over 420ppm) 

• The forest is a climate regulator: trees suck up water from the ground and sweat it out through their leaves, which cools the air (think of them as mini-air conditioners)

• In summer, its canopy provides welcome shade and prevents the air from overheating, protecting countless creatures both great and small from excessive sunlight

• Trunks and roots also help protect people and infrastructure against mass movement hazards such as rockfall, avalanches and landslides

• As anyone who has walked through a forest or city city park knows, they also offer mental health benefits to stressed out humans

• Trees are our evolutionary companions that we have spent 300,000 years leaning against, climbing and worshipping

• And last, but certainly not least the forest provides us with nuts, berries, fungi and wood

After radical interventions such as those depicted here however, forests can no longer fulfill their vital, natural and biological functions. Scenes like this are unfortunately becoming more and more common in Switzerland due to current so-called forest “management” policies. It is highly presumptuous of us humans to assume that we can manage such complex ecosystems as forests sensibly and sensitively…