Resource description:
Listen here or search "WILDCARD: The Forest Game Podcast" wherever you get your podcasts
Deep in Switzerland's Seeliwald Reserve, carnivorous plants digest insects to survive in nutrient-poor swamps, while ancient trees accumulate carbon undisturbed for over half a century. This is proforestation in action - not planting new forests, but allowing existing ones to grow wild and free.
Professor Harald Bugmann from ETH Zurich has been studying one of Europe's most fascinating ecological experiments: what happens when humans completely step back from forest management? The results are surprising. While these unmanaged forests store up to 200 tonnes of carbon per hectare and host extraordinary biodiversity, scaling up this approach across Europe faces unexpected challenges.
From Swiss Alpine protection forests that guard villages from avalanches, to the economic realities facing forest owners, this episode reveals why the future of European forests requires a delicate balance between human needs and nature's autonomy.
About the podcast
A scientific adventure across Europe’s hidden forests
What if rewilding Europe were a strategic board game where every forest hides a secret, and every move shapes the future of our ecosystems?
Welcome to an extraordinary audio journey that transforms the complex world of ecological restoration into an immersive, continent-spanning adventure.
In each episode, listeners make a “strategic move” through Europe’s diverse forest landscapes, uncovering how damaged ecosystems can recover and flourish. Guided by expert researchers and scientists, the podcast dives into the investigative work of identifying true wilderness, explores the delicate balance between conservation and human needs, and highlights innovative strategies that restore ecosystems to their full complexity.
Using the metaphor of a “game board”, complex scientific ideas become accessible, engaging stories, where every dice roll reveals new ecological mysteries and every square tells a tale about our evolving relationship with the natural world.
Author/Contact:
«WILDCARD. The Forest Game» is a podcast production written by Silvia Giralucci for the WILDCARD project and Starter.
Scientific Supervisor: Giorgio Alberti, University of Udine
Editorial Supervisor: Gesche Schifferdecker, European Forest Institute
Voice-over: Rahel Könen, European Forest Institute
Post-production: Santiago Alarcón, European Forest Institute
