Ten years ago, storm Kolle swept across the Bavarian Forest and felled hundreds of hectares of forest within minutes. The damage was immense – for the forest farmers in the region as well as for the state forest companies there. The then Minister of Forestry, Helmut Brunner (CSU), was so shocked by Kolle’s force that he promised to create 200 new jobs for foresters. Because the reforestation of bare areas left behind by storms such as Kolle or pests such as the bark beetle is not only expensive. Instead, foresters are needed to advise the forest farmers. Little came of Brunner’s promise. “So far, the state government has only created eight real additional forester positions,” complains Stefan Kramer from the Association of German Foresters (BDF). The BDF is now pushing massively for the positions. When Forest Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU), Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger and possibly Environment Minister Thorsten Faithr (both FW) visit the state assembly of the association in Fürth this Monday, the foresters will insist on the promise.
Especially these days you can observe practically everywhere in Bavaria how much the forests are under heat and drought stress. “It’s really a dry spell for the forest at the moment,” says Dirk Schmechel from the State Institute for Forestry and Forestry. The trees are practically only supplied with enough water in southern Bavaria. If the weather stays dry and hot, Schmechel fears “similar damage to 2018 and 2019”. A lack of water and a plague of bark beetles had caused huge damage back then. Hans Ludwig Körner from the Forest Owners’ Association says that the forests north of the Danube in particular are plagued by drought. He emphasizes that young crops are particularly susceptible to drought. That is why they are now often professionally watered. The BDF is the professional organization of foresters. It has around 2000 members in Bavaria and thus represents practically the entire forest administration and the Bavarian State Forests, which manage the state forests.