Post by Catarina Leirós

I don’t usually post on LinkedIn, but what’s happening in Soesterberg is too shocking to ignore. At a time when global warming is accelerating, when every summer breaks new heat records, and when municipalities should be fighting to preserve every square meter of cooling, living nature… the municipality of Soest has decided that the solution to the housing crisis is to cut down 2,000 trees — roughly one‑third of an entire forest. And this isn’t just “a forest.” It’s a habitat. A habitat where red squirrels leap between the canopy, where badgers dig their setts and raise their young, where countless birds, insects, and small mammals depend on the shade, food, and shelter these trees provide. These animals don’t have an abandoned industrial zone to relocate to. They don’t have an old airbase to move into. They have this forest — and it’s being taken from them. Yet the municipality calls the project “nature‑inclusive housing.” Apparently, the new definition of “nature‑inclusive” is: destroy the nature first, then build houses next to the stumps. What makes this even more incomprehensible is that Soest already has vast unused land available: an abandoned industrial area and a former airbase currently used for leisure biking and the occasional parade. These areas sit empty — fully suited for development — while a living forest full of protected species is being sacrificed. We are told to plant trees, protect biodiversity, and cool our cities. Yet here, a municipality is doing the exact opposite. I’m sharing this because silence is how these decisions slip through. If this shocks you too, please speak up. Forests don’t grow back in election cycles — they take generations. And once the squirrels, badgers, and other wildlife lose their home, they don’t come back. Gemeente Soest