The Swiss Alps are a great place to go walking and to photograph some magnificent scenery, especially during the month of September in early autumn.ÿ At this time of the year, the weather can be cold, but usually there is some sunshine and at least it is not too hot walking!

Trees play an important role in this high altitude region.

The town of Davos is located in a typical Swiss valley about two hours drive from Zurich. Here the heavy snowfalls on the mountains could form massive avalanches and devastate (= destroy) the houses nestled (= located) in the valleys. So there are strict controls on clearfalling and harvesting and an appreciation of the importance of living with the extreme weather conditions, instead of trying to fight and overpower them.

All houses have double glazing (=two layers of glass in the windows, with the air gap between the two layers providing effective insulation against normal heat loss through the glass. In contrast to Thai houses where we try to encourage the even the slightest breeze to cool us down, in Davos, they have smaller windows and thick insulated walls and ceilings to keep the heat in and the extreme cold out during the winter period.

The pictures show some examples of how trees and their products are used.

Here in Thailand, we also must think about how we can work with nature, especially to make wise sustainable use of the forests, whether they are planted or natural.

Last updated: 0000-00-00 00:00:00