On Forest Day, the State of Salzburg, the Chamber of Agriculture and the Forest Association call on forest owners to take even more care of the maintenance and regeneration of their trees. Forest experts warn that only diverse forests can cope with the forces of nature in the future. In addition, wood must be used more than before for building.
21.03.2021 12.48
Online since today, 12.48 p.m.
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366,000 hectares in the state of Salzburg are forested – a little more than half of the state’s area.
“Do not enter at any time of the day or night”
Almost a third of Salzburg’s forests need more care or replanting in order to continue protecting against avalanches and mudslides in the high mountains and narrow alpine valleys, says Agrarian Provincial Councilor Josef Schwaiger (ÖVP). In addition, there are important functions of the forests in flatter parts of the country – for water balance and air purification: “The greatest challenge in the future is a higher temperature over the year, but also the increased use of leisure time in the forest. As a result, there is often no more peace and quiet, the game is scattered and causes considerable damage to the trees. The people must take note that the forests should not be entered at any time of the day or night. “
From a legal point of view, however, the freedom of movement for hikers and mountaineers, which has been one of the basic rights of the population in Austria since the early 1970s, stands in the way of any entry bans.
“More wood in social housing”
Forestry secures around 9,200 jobs in the province of Salzburg alone and could create 4,000 more, says Rudolf Rosenstatter, chairman of the Salzburg Forest Association. He calls for wood to be used much more often as a building material for residential buildings in the future: “Social housing with several floors is an important issue here. I demand that in future a third of it will be built with local wood. “
In the next three years, seven million euros from the federal forest fund will be available in Salzburg for reforestation with robust tree species and for more forest care.
Bohemian Forest as a deterrent example
For the northern Mühlviertel in Upper Austria there has been a new agreement with the Czech Republic to control the bark beetle since 2020. The Prague government has approved a 500 meter wide zone in the Bohemian Forest for this purpose. The beetle-infested forest now has to be processed, much to the relief of the foresters in the directly adjacent Upper Austria.
They want to protect the mountain forest on their side as best they can – a report by ORF editor Gerald Lehner (Salzburg) from the Bohemian Forest in ooe.ORF.at (6.5.2020)
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