Any attentive layperson can see it, now it’s official: the forests in Bavaria are getting worse and worse. The reasons are the increasingly frequent dry and hot periods, storms and pest plagues. This is what it says in the current forest report, which Forestry Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) presented to the state parliament on Wednesday. “Climate change just doesn’t take a break and is progressing really extremely quickly,” said Kaniber. The results are not surprising, but very alarming.
According to the report, the condition of forest trees has continued to deteriorate compared to last year. The damage levels are particularly high in southern Bavaria. “While Middle Franconia remains at the top with an average needle and leaf loss of 29.1 percent – followed by Upper Franconia with 28.1 percent – the damage in Lower Bavaria also rose to 25.9 percent and in Upper Bavaria to 25.8 percent on,” the report says. The average needle loss increased by two percent and leaf loss by around three percent year-on-year.
“The results show very clearly: It is more important than ever to build and maintain healthy and sustainable forests,” said Kaniber. “It is clear to the entire state government: We can only accomplish this mammoth task together with our committed forest owners and with a hunter community that is committed to forest-friendly game populations.” Hunting is considered to play a key role in the development of species-rich and stable mixed forests that can withstand climate change. According to experts, the deer population in Bavaria is at a record level. The result: The many deer eat the young trees together, so that they do not grow back properly and even die en masse as seedlings. According to experts, only with dedicated hunting does the forest have a chance to rejuvenate itself.
The forest pact with the forest owners, to which the CSU and Free Voters expressly committed themselves in their new coalition agreement, therefore names the principle “forest before game” as an important principle for protecting our forests, said Kaniber. Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters), who is now also responsible for hunting in Bavaria, said that major efforts must be made throughout Bavaria in 2024 to combat the spread of the bark beetle, including in spruce. “The year 2024 must be the year of bark beetle control,” said Aiwanger. At the same time, he opposed the designation of new nature reserves in the Bavarian forests, for example in the Spessart.