In the protected area of the Bavarian Forest, areas are being transferred to the so-called management zone. The reason is said to be the bark beetle, which is said to threaten the neighboring forests. Conservationists consider the measure to be completely unnecessary.
From the perspective of conservationists, it is a breach of a taboo: the head of the Bavarian Forest National Park, Ursula Schuster, has offered to transfer two areas from the protected area’s natural zone to its so-called management zone. This means that spruce trees can be felled there to protect against the bark beetle. “These plans are a scandal,” says the chairman of the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV), Norbert Schäffer. “If you remove areas from protection in a national park because they no longer suit you, you don’t need to put them under protection in the first place.”