The bark beetle calamity, which fully affected Czech forests in 2018, is in decline. In Moravia, it is behind its peak and foresters in the Vysočina region also get it under control. “The last big battlefield remains in the Děčín, Českolipsko and Liberecko regions,” said Martin Zajíček, a spokesman for the state enterprise Lesy České republiky. The news comes on a day when people all over the Czech Republic are helping to restore forests.
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Forest Renewal Day, Petr Čech Video: Forests of the Czech Republic
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The Day for Forest Renewal event is organized by the state enterprise Lesy České republiky in thirteen places throughout the country. In addition to planting trees, caretakers also help clean the forest or build fences around new plantings.
In addition to intensive logging of infested wood, this year’s very cold and rainy spring also contributed to the decline of the bark beetle calamity. The weather delayed the spring swarming of the bark beetle by about one month.
The priority of the Forests of the Czech Republic is now the restoration of destroyed forests. “Until 2018, the common afforestation area for Lesy ČR was 10,000 hectares, this year 22,000 hectares are planned. We used up to 55 million seedlings a year, this year it will be up to 100 million,” said Josef Vojáček, CEO of LČR.
In the regions where the calamity has passed, Lesy ČR is preparing to restore roads damaged by mining and transport equipment. “The company has the funds set aside for this, hundreds of millions of crowns will go into the renewal of roads and forest infrastructure,” said Zajíček.
Thanks to rising wood prices, the company is again creating financial reserves for the restoration of forests and forest property. In the first half of this year, the company returned to a profit of 680 million crowns after last year’s loss of 480 million crowns.
According to the Czech forest think tank, Kůrovec in the Czech Republic last year attacked 35 to 40 million cubic meters of wood. The damage caused by the low purchase price of bark wood and the premature harvesting of stands last year reached CZK 44 billion, Czech Forest estimated. According to the Czech Statistical Office, timber harvesting in the Czech Republic last year reached a record 35.8 million cubic meters. It thus increased by 9.7 percent year-on-year.
Moon landscape in the Highlands. Watch the footage of decimated forests after the bark beetle calamity in the Jihlava region, June 11, 2020:
Decimated forests after bark beetle calamity in Jihlava region Video: Jakub Zuzánek, Blahoslav Baťa
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