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 CO² 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.