The model project “White elms from the southern Black Forest” has been running in the Southern Black Forest Nature Park for over a year. The first young plants are now available for planting. On Monday, December 14, 2020, an information meeting took place at the foot of an imposing white elm on Wagensteigbach in Kirchzarten-Burg.
“Once again, the good cooperation between the Southern Black Forest Nature Park and the landscape conservation associations is bearing fruit,” said a delighted nature park manager Roland Schöttle. As with the “Black Forest Meadow Diversity Preserved” project, the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Landscape Conservation Association, in the person of its managing director, Reinholdreiber, was the source of ideas and professional support.
In a few places along the streams in the southern Black Forest valleys, imposing white elms grow. For example, in the course of mapping work in the Dreisamtal, in particular on the Wagensteigbach, which was left in its original state, around 70 medium to large white elms were found, as Thomas Schmid from the construction department of the Kirchzarten community explained. The press conference took place directly at an almost 30 meter high white elm.
European white elms have similar location requirements as ash trees, but they are expected to disappear completely as a result of the so-called ash shoot death. White elms can be a substitute for these. As native trees, they have a high ecological value. Some animal species, for example the elm hairstreak, are even dependent on the occurrence of white elms. In addition, as large trees with a height of up to 35 meters, they can replace the ash trees in the gallery forests that characterize the landscape in the long term. They can also replace emerging ash trees as striking courtyard trees in the Black Forest villages.
The district forest office manager and chief nature conservation officer at the Black Forest Association, Dr. Karl-Ludwig Gerecke, emphasized that the white elm is currently also of great forest interest. When looking for tree species that are climate-proof and disease-resistant, one became aware of the white elm. The fact that it is a native species and not an exotic wood is a great advantage from an ecological point of view. This was also confirmed by Lisa Gollent from the Forestry Experimental and Research Institute Baden-Württemberg in Freiburg. As part of a research project, she deals with the forestry suitability of native tree species under the site conditions that are changing with climate change.
Reinholdreiber explained the process of the four-year model project “European white elms from the southern Black Forest”: With the help of the landscape conservation associations and the district authorities, large seed-forming white elms in the southern Black Forest are mapped. The seeds are collected in early summer using nets spread out under the trees. The seeds are germinated and the young plants are raised in a forest nursery. “In general, it almost never happens that the regional types of our native trees and shrubs, not just the white elm, are multiplied. When planting measures, it is often necessary to use young plants that are not indigenous to the region, which are not so well adapted to regional conditions and which are less suitable for the animal species that occur here. The white elm project is also intended to give the impetus to propagate other typical Black Forest trees, ”saidreiber.
Now the first young white elms are available and can be planted. Thousands more are to follow in the coming years. The aim is to replace as many dead ash trees as possible with young white elms. Not only municipalities, but also farmers and private individuals can register.
The young trees can be purchased at a price of € 2.50 each. Please contact the Landscape Conservation Association Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Jan Flessa, by email [email protected] or phone 07621 87-5894.
This project was funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Glücksspirale lottery.
Contact person at the Southern Black Forest Nature Park:
Holger Wegner
Dr.-Pilet-Spur 4
79868 Feldberg
Tel. 07676 9336-15
Email: [email protected].
(Press release: Naturpark Südschwarzwald eV, December 18, 2020)
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