The spruce is dominant, but actually it no longer fits in our area.
The forest owners association prefers to use mixed stands.
What about Douglas fir and beech?
BY FRIEDBERT HOLZ
Grünbach
- If, despite only single-digit temperatures and drizzle, a dozen seasoned men meet in the middle of the forest, the occasion must be an important one.
It was a forest inspection in the forest between Grünbach and Großhündlbach, invited by the forest owners' association (WBV) Erding.
In addition to a general exchange between experts and forest owners, there was a very topical topic: the treatment of young mixed stands.
It is well known that the German forest is also sick in the district.
Because climate change, much too dry summers, the bark beetle pest and hurricane-like storms have badly damaged the tree population and in some cases have greatly reduced the population.
And so some forest owners only have to realize that their once valuable forest is sometimes just barely suitable for the production of wooden pallets.
This is also, but not only due to the predominant spruce stands, as Rainer Mehringer, chairman and managing director of the WBV, explained before the inspection.
“Although we have to be optimists by profession, we need completely new ways of managing our forests.
It is important to convert our predominant spruce forests into near-natural forests;
we need more and different ranges ”.
Because especially the dominant spruce, as Marcus Nißl from the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forests (AELF) explained, no longer fits in our area.
"It is a conifer that needs a lot of water, which actually comes from northern Europe, where it is significantly colder, and it feels particularly comfortable in higher altitudes".
Here with us, in what was once a swampy landscape from the tertiary hill country, the soil no longer has an optimal supply of nutrients.
WBV forester Martin Rehmann does not see a good future for this tree variety either: “It was cultivated generations ago out of an emergency, but it is not doing well now.
It is no longer cold enough for them and we have to understand that their existence here is not a god-given normal condition here. ”At the moment, added Mehringer, at least 90-year-old stocks are being sold for little money because they are damaged.
He now also sees the need for other tree species, especially mixed varieties, which are also more climate-resistant.
“A good tree is, for example, the very tall Douglas fir, but it requires a lot of care and often has to be branched.
But we don't want to see anyone climbing long ladders and endangering themselves - that's work for professionals with professional equipment ”.
Forester Rehmann also does not understand why the beech, a tree with a long tradition and good wood, is not more widespread here.
“Many place names from the surrounding area show that it is at home.
It should be promoted in its cultivation as well as linden, maple or silver fir, and there are grants for each tree. "
In this context, it is important that the young tribes are well protected against game browsing, possibly also in an area that is fenced off.
“And they should talk to the hunters in their forest,” the expert encouraged, “because it is important to create a common awareness for the preservation of our forests”.
Ultimately, Mehringer gave the forest owners, who have meanwhile become more thoughtful, an important motto for their journey: “The crucial question of our actions must not be just making money.
Rather, we should rethink and consider which forests we can get through over a longer period of time.
Because our wood should be able to stand for as long as possible. "
