NL - 'Je weet nooit wat je tegenkomt. Er zijn slangen en beren. Af en toe sta je met een beer aan dezelfde frambozenstruik te plukken. Maar we laten elkaar met rust. Het bos en de dieren moet je respecteren. Het bos voedt je, geeft zuurstof. Wat heb je nog meer nodig?'
Tonya Tugushin, Rusland
Fotograaf Jeroen Toirkens en schrijver Jelle Brandt Corstius vertellen het verhaal van de boreale bossen, een cirkel van voornamelijk naaldbomen die zich uitstrekt over Europa, Azië en Noord-Amerika, en de mensen die er wonen. In deze tijden waarin de klimaatverandering duidelijk zicht- en voelbaar is, is er een grote nood hun verhalen te delen.
EN - 'You never know what you might encounter. There are snakes and bears. From time to time you find yourself picking raspberries from the same bush as a bear. But we leave each other in peace. You have to respect the forest and the animals. The forest feeds you, gives you oxygen. What more do you need?
Tonya Tugushin, Russia
Photographer Jeroen Toirkens and writer Jelle Brandt Corstius have researched the stories of the boreal forests, a band of mainly coniferous trees that extends across Europe, Asia and North America, and the people who inhabit them. At a time when the effects of climate change can be seen and felt clearly, there is an urgent need to share these stories.
Thirty per cent of all trees are in the so-called boreal ecosystem, a circle of mostly coniferous trees, ranging from Europe and Asia to North America. These boreal forests, also referred to as taiga, convert massive amounts of CO(2) into oxygen. Over a span of 100 years, an average tree produces enough oxygen to allow a single person to breathe for twenty years. Still, less than twelve per cent of these forests are protected. For Borealis, photographer Jeroen Toirkens and journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius travelled to these forests, looking for the stories of the people living there. Their mission turned into eight very different journeys, to Norway, Scotland, Canada, Japan, Alaska and Russia. Text in English and Dutch.