Spring run-off in Deschenes Forest

 

Matt Galloway

In the Deschenes forest a flow of spring run-off water transforms transparency into turbulence, stillness into motion, with an apparent alchemy reflecting the healing power of biodiversity.

I spent a lot of time walking in the Deschenes Forest. Discovering provocative scenery, I began taking pictures to share some of the surprising and elusive experience accessible to everyone visiting these woods. For me this is easier with image, more than words. While scientists have documented boosts in T-cell growth from exposure to humus of the forest floor, designers have been advocating the transfer of health benefits from experiences in natural environments to built environments, in what is called biophilic design. I know little of the science involved in how contact with soils can boost healthy cell growth, but as a designer I can recognize remarkable qualities of light, colour, pattern and texture giving experiences of walking in the woods a kind of magic, or metamorphic power.

A community in Gatineau spontaneously formed to protect this forest, and it is a bounty of biodiversity, unquestionably a place that supports health and healing. Let's be sure to keep protecting the Deschenes Forest.



Photo: Matt Galloway