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Forests, music and climate change - 6th January 2023

Everyone knows climate change is a problem. But it's a problem for music too.

The Risoud Forest is a special place. It's on the border between France and Switzerland. High in the Jura mountains, there are some old trees. These trees are perfect for making instruments, like guitars and violins. But dry weather's changing the wood. It isn't good for the instruments.

Francois Villard looks after the forest.

Francois Villard: "Global warming is the problem. The average annual temperature, when I arrived here in the Vallee de Joux, 30 years ago, we had an average annual temperature of 5-6 degrees. Now, we are way over."

Risoud wood is excellent for making instruments. It's because the forest is high in the mountains.

Theo Magnin finds the right trees.

Theo Magnin: "For musical instruments, you need very tight veins and that's why the more the trees grow in altitude, between 1000 metres and 1200 metres high above the sea level, the veins will be very tight."

For every 300 trees cut down, only one or two are usually good enough. But Magnin's afraid of climate change. Making instruments might become impossible.

Theo Magnin: "With global warming and the lack of water, I don't know what we're going to find as resonance wood, high quality wood in the next few years. It's becoming a disaster with the woods drying."

The instrument makers tried different wood. But Philippe Ramel's sure about one thing. The best wood is from the Risoud Forest.

Philippe Ramel: "It's the air inside the guitar that will, with the vibration of the string, begin to move and which will cause the soundboard to vibrate like the skin of a drum. So we want the best possible vibratory qualities and the Risoud forest guarantees that."