The fight against the Asian longhorn beetle is entering the next round in Miesbach.
After the felling work, the monitoring will begin and will last until 2024.
Not only the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forests is challenged, but also the community of forest owners.
Miesbach -
You can argue about whether the hardest work in the fight against the Asian longhorn beetle (ALB) in Miesbach has already been done or is still to be done.
The fact is: The monitoring that now follows the felling and has to be carried out by the end of 2024 is complex, expensive and of enormous importance.
As reported, starting from the epicenter at the tax office in Miesbach, within a radius of 100 meters, all trees and shrubs that the ALB used to lay eggs and thus spread.
Monitoring takes place within a radius of 2000 meters and affects a total of 1600 hectares - 320 hectares of which are forest areas.
"That corresponds to the size of 450 football fields," says Christian Webert, deputy head of the Department for Food, Agriculture and Forests (AELF) in Holzkirchen and head of the forest division there.
The proportion of hardwood is 30 percent.
Monitoring is divided into two areas.
On the one hand, the AELF checks with searchers.
These are part-time workers who systematically take random samples and check whether there is a new, as yet undiscovered ALB infestation.
This is supplemented by pheromone traps, whose attractants are supposed to attract beetles, and by the use of search dogs.
"Live beetles are extremely rare to find," says Annemarie Kastlmeier.
The 29-year-old forest engineer should know.
She is the new specialist that the AELF is providing forest owners with in the fight against ALB.
“It's easier to track it down through the feeding tracks that the larva leaves behind.” These are holes in the wood and shavings on the ground.
Official monitoring takes place twice a year.
But that's not easy.
Leaves, rain and light conditions make the search difficult.
Therefore, the trees are inspected once a year with and once without leaves.
“This ensures that as many traces as possible that the beetle leaves can be discovered,” says Kastlmeier.
Climbing takes place once a year, and only the maple, willow, poplar, chestnut, birch and elm, which are most at risk.
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Annemarie Kastlmeier from AELF advises forest owners.
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The second line is the control by the forest owners, who should check every two months.
A total of 190 forest owners are affected.
So that they know what to look out for, what the ALB looks like and which traces are typical for it, the AELF organizes an information meeting on the green in Miesbach.
As with the felling, the basis for the monitoring is the implementation regulation of the European Union.
It also regulates the so-called transfer ban, which prohibits forest owners from relocating wood from a plot number within the quarantine without permission.
This is to prevent the unconscious spread of the ALB.
For affected farmers who market firewood in particular, an important source of income is lost.
One possibility to use it anyway is certified wood chips, which are cut to 2.5 centimeters, or heat treatment in the core at 56 degrees Celsius.
The AELF also advises those affected on this.
The training
For forest owners, the forest area at the AELF in Holzkirchen will take place on Thursday, September 24th, in Miesbach - obviously outdoors.
It starts at 2 p.m. Auf der Grün at number 52. If you want to take part, you can register today at the office of the Holzkirchen Forest Owners Association on 0 80 24/4 80 37 or by email to info @ wbv-Holzkirchen. de.
Binoculars are provided.
But if you have your own, you are welcome to bring it with you.
