Last year, the country invested 15.4 million euros in the maintenance of the drought and pest-stricken forests. “We have never paid so much in the field of forest subsidies,” said Environment and Agriculture Minister Claudia Dalbert (Greens). “That was a total of more funds than the sum of the funding in the past four years.”
The minister only sees reason for joy to a limited extent in the record: “The great need for financial support shows how hard the climate crisis has already hit our forests,” said Dalbert. “The effects of the storms, the drought and the subsequent massive infestation of insect pests in our forests are dramatic.” Since 2018, 13 million cubic meters of damaged wood and 25,000 hectares of pelt have been created.
It is therefore important to support private forest owners, for example to get the thousands of dead trees out of the forests and to plant new trees in the bare areas. The forest owners should pay attention to climate-friendly species. “I am convinced that only mixed forests that are appropriate to the location have a chance of surviving the climate crisis,” said Dalbert. “We promote afforestation and forest conversion if there is at least 30 percent hardwood content.”
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