Stuck for a gift for someone this Christmas? Consider a year’s subscription for these guys.
You may have seen the name Les Amis de la Forêt de Soignes appear on signs, newsletters or guided walks, but who exactly are they. In short, they are the people who have spent more than a century protecting the Forest from being slowly chipped away by roads, buildings and ill conceived projects. They began in 1909 at a moment when Brussels was growing fast and many feared the forest would simply become an extension of the suburbs. They fought to keep it a real forest, and they have been doing that ever since.
What makes them interesting is that they are not a nostalgic walking club, even if they do plenty of walks. They keep a close eye on planning proposals along the forest edge, they object to damaging developments, and they know the legal history of almost every corner of the massif. They have been involved in stopping or reshaping some surprisingly large projects over the decades, right up to the present day.
I joined because I realised that enjoying the forest and learning about its history is one thing, but helping to protect it feels like the next step. The forest needs people who notice what is happening at its edges, who turn up when something is threatened, and who know that small decisions today shape what we walk through tomorrow. Joining felt like adding my voice to a long line of people who have cared enough to keep Soignes a forest and not a suburb.
If you have ever walked here and thought this is worth keeping, Les Amis are one of the reasons so much of it is still here.