Image: (ÖBf archive/Bazzoka Creative)
More storms, drought and pests such as the bark beetle: the effects of the climate crisis are making life difficult for local forests. This year, the Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), based in Purkersdorf in Lower Austria, want to plant a total of 1.4 million young trees.
The targeted reforestation in 120 forest districts is intended to rejuvenate the forests that have been severely damaged. “The forest of the future should be a colourful, species-rich mixed forest that can better withstand environmental influences and is less susceptible to pests,” says the spokesman for the board of federal forests, Georg Schöppl.
A “climate-fit” forest
Of the almost 14 million euros that have been budgeted for caring for the forests this year, almost six million will be used to combat the bark beetle. Hundreds of bark beetle traps are already being laid out.
The federal forests will plant 35 different tree species in their forests. 40 percent of all seedlings will be larches. The goal of making the forests “climate-fit” should also be achieved with the planting of 80,000 oak trees: Due to their resistance to drought, the trees are particularly well suited to surviving increasingly hot summers.
About half of the 1.4 million young trees – 350,000 each – are planted in Upper and Lower Austria. According to the federal forests, the reforestation work in Upper Austria will concentrate on forests north of Lake Mondsee, on the Höllengebirge mountains and the Molln region.
So-called hydrogels are being tested on around 20 test areas in Lower Austria, Carinthia and Styria in cooperation with the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. The biodegradable granules are planted with the seedlings. They can absorb many times their weight in rainwater and release it back to the plant in doses during dry periods.
Source: Nachrichten
