Shade

As the temperatures continue to rise I want to look today at an extremely undervalued part of the dog walk…. Namely the topic of shade, and its future.

Those of us who live in Oslo are extremely fortunate to be surrounded by so much woodland on almost every side.

The thick and seemingly endless woods provide amazing opportunities for adventures and exploring.

But the woods are changing and in recent years a lot of the areas in the near vicinity to the city have been thinned out or cut down. Holmenkollen, Maridalen, Solemskogen and Sørkedalen have all been affected for numerous reasons including economic and aesthetic.

Whilst there is an argument that thinning out the woods leads to regeneration, we also shouldn’t look far past the fact that timber and wood are at an all-time high price.

The tree canopy which provides us so gloriously with the abundance of shade is also home to a plethora of species. Just listen to the array of songs and noises as you walk through the dense woodland with your dog.

The shade of the woods also increases the moisture levels and keeps the ground relatively cooler. As the trees are cut down this advantage disappears and the ground becomes tinderbox dry. Prime for the risk of forest fires.

On the flipside of this comes soil erosion when we get weather conditions. With the trees and roots no longer absorbing and holding so much of the water, the dry and cracked Earth washes away more easily.

You can also rest assured and smile that the woodland and canopy are not only capturing carbon but giving us a fresh supply of oxygen.

I am forever puzzled as to why the authorities feel the need to cut down woodland within a 15 kilometer radius of the city when it provides benefits on so many different levels. Physical and psychological.

There is a certain irony that most of this deforestation has happened whilst we have had the Green Party in control in Oslo. Then again they built a park for an inordinate amount of money up at Sognsvann, claiming it was the “entrance to marka”. If you ask me marka does a fantastic job of being its own gateway without an overpriced and over budget park.

If we would like future generations to benefit from the shade we really need to start planting trees instead of cutting them down.

Doggies: Lucy, Milli, Lucy, Leesi and Haraka