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Forests, music and climate change - 6th January 2023

We see the effects of climate change everywhere. But it's also a problem for musical instruments. Traditional instrument makers in Switzerland are feeling nervous.

The wood for their instruments comes from the Risoud Forest, between France and Switzerland. High up in the Jura mountains, some trees are ancient.

It's the perfect wood for making guitars, violins and other instruments. But now, drier weather is a danger to the quality of the sound.

Francois Villard takes care of 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 to 6 degrees. Now we are way over."

The trees are special because of where and how they grow. That's why they're so important in instrument making.

Theo Magnin picks out suitable 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."

300 trees are cut down locally, but only one or two will become musical instruments. Magnin's worried climate change will reduce this number further.

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 experts have tried using different types of wood. But for one maker, Philippe Ramel, the material from the Risoud Forest provides the highest quality.

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."