Mixed Oak Forest on Hisøy, Arendal, Southern Norway
The tall oak trees growing in Southern Norway were in history (until the end of the 19th century) the main source of a prospering economy in Arendal. Building wooden sail ships made Arendal per capita once one of the richest cities in Europe. Today some small pieces of oak forests are protected in the region, and serve as important habitat for threatened species, such as the White-backed Woodpecker, a scarce bird, requiring large, mature woods with plenty of dead wood.
Year: 2013
From album: Forests in Southern Norway and development after forest fire in Mykland
Photographer: Peter Prokosch