OÖN campaign “Our Forest”: When trees grow for the climate

The series “Our Forest. 100,000 Trees for Upper Austria” started successfully in the fall and will now be continued in the spring. More than 60,000 trees have already been planted and 40,000 tree sponsorships have been taken over by our readers. Thanks!

The sustainable climate focus has met with great interest, and we will now be providing you with exciting aspects of the climate and the forest on Wednesdays and Saturdays: from 60-meter-high giant trees in the Klingental, the Linz Cathedral Chapter as the largest forest owner, to the latest scientific findings. The issue of forests affects everyone, simply due to the fact that around half of our country – almost 48 percent – is covered by forests.

Trees are a large water reservoir, filter the air and, in addition to the climate aspect, also have an important protective function, keyword: protected forests and avalanches. In addition, the forestry and timber industry is the second most important economic factor in Austria after tourism and one of the largest employers. Just in time for Forest Day this Thursday, the Austrian Federal Forests have also started reforestation in all twelve forestry companies: with a total of 1.4 million young trees and 40 different tree species.

“From today’s perspective, the conditions are good – the forest floors in many regions are sufficiently supplied with water. We hope that this will remain the case in the coming weeks,” says Andreas Gruber, ÖBf board member for forestry and nature conservation. The aim is to further promote forest conversion towards species-rich mixed forests – from the Vienna Woods to the Arlberg.

100 million euros

Even if the federal forests fundamentally promote natural regrowth in the forest and thus natural regeneration, reforestation must be carried out after damaging events such as storms so that the forests can grow back more quickly and the bare areas can close.

Most of the young trees – 370,000 – will be planted this year in Upper Austria, where the forests around Mondsee, in the Ebensee region as well as in Hallstatt and the Steyrtal were affected by storms and snow pressure, among other things. This is followed by Lower Austria (320,000) and Salzburg (290,000 trees). “Almost 50 percent of the young trees are larches,” says Gruber.

Their share will continue to increase in the future as an alternative to spruce. The conifer grows in mountainous areas and is particularly storm-resistant due to its heart root system. The silver fir is also returning to the federal forests in greater numbers: it is one of the deepest-rooted conifers and can absorb water and nutrients from deep layers of soil. In addition to 75,000 young oaks, rarer tree varieties are also planted, such as gray alder, stone pine, hornbeam, sycamore maple, but also precious hardwoods such as serviceberry, spar, linden or bird cherry. Because the forest of the future should be a species-rich mixed forest. “We have planned more than 100 million euros for forest management by 2030,” says board spokesman Georg Schöppl.

Become part of our initiative and sponsor a tree!

Together with its partners, OÖNachrichten has set itself the goal of planting 100,000 trees in Upper Austria. To achieve this goal, readers can actively participate in our initiative by sponsoring a tree. And this is how it works:

• For our subscribers: As a thank you for your loyalty, we would like to give you a tree sponsorship. You can activate your tree sponsorship at www.nachrichten.at/baumpate. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at leserservice@nachrichten.at or 0732 / 7805-560.
• For new customers: A tree sponsorship as a gift when you take out a new trial subscription. Order OÖN digital & print now and read everything about forests.
• For corporate customers: Would you also like to take part in the campaign? Take on sponsorships for your customers or employees! We look forward to hearing from you: wald@nachrichten.at