There are trees not only in the tropical rainforest. Thirty percent of all trees are in the boreal zone, a circle of mostly conifers that extends across Europe, Asia and North America. These Boreal forests, also known as taiga, are priceless. The taiga is an enormous repository of carbon. In the forests, peatlands and marshes of the boreal zone, 44 percent of the carbon stored in all plants on land is. These so-called “carbon sinks” are important because the stored carbon would otherwise end up in the atmosphere as CO2.

Forest fires around the Arctic Circle? Anyone who thought that forest fires only occur in warm regions is wrong. More and more forest fires are starting in the cold regions near the Arctic Circle. Climate change is causing drier and warmer conditions, causing trees to lose moisture and increasing the risk of thunderstorms and lightning. Sander Veraverbeke from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam explains why we want to prevent these forest fires from moving north.

Photographer Jeroen Toirkens and journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius have been looking for the stories and people in the Boreal forests. Who lives here? How do they live? And how do the inhabitants relate to the forest? #bossen #trees


What's up with the forest? As soon as you take a step between the trees, something changes. The air is changing, the sounds are different. The forest is a place where you can feel safe, surrounded by tall trees, the soothing murmur of the leaves, the coolness on a hot summer afternoon. But a forest is also a place that can be mysterious, scary even. Children lie awake after hearing about dark woods where bandits are hiding. Since our ancestors climbed up the trees and went into the savannah, humanity has been fascinated by the forest. Projekt Borealis

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