The Death of the Forest Is Also the Death of the Common Space

• Forests served as vital, free public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, acting as a refuge for people when other areas were restricted.
• The destruction of forests by wildfires represents more than environmental loss; it signifies the disappearance of essential "common spaces."
• Massive wildfires across countries like Spain, France, Canada, and Italy are erasing both physical landscapes and the shared areas available to the public.

Historical and Political Context

• Historians like Silvia Federici and Peter Linebaugh argue that enclosures of land in the 16th and 17th centuries were a tool for capitalism to concentrate wealth at the expense of communal access.
• Medieval records like the "Charter of the Forest" once protected the rights of common people to gather wood, graze animals, and use communal lands, a stark contrast to modern property norms.
• According to the Spanish College of Forest Engineers, 72% of forest land is currently privately owned, further restricting the remaining common space available for public use.

Consequences of Losing Shared Spaces

• Economic and physical barriers—such as rising heat, pandemics, conflicts, and private land enclosure—are increasingly shrinking the spaces where people can exist without paying a fee.
• The loss of forests is a loss of places for collective expression, mutual care, and non-commercial coexistence.
• The author advocates for a shift in perspective: viewing forests as shared homes that must be protected and nurtured rather than just private or exploitable property.