Edition of Wednesday, August 02, 2023
Innsbruck (OTS) – Money alone will not be enough in the fight for the local forests. A comprehensive plan is needed quickly to win the race against the bark beetle. The consequences of failure could be felt for decades.
It’s quite a lot of wood that lies in front of us. literally. And figuratively. 600,000 solid cubic meters of damaged wood have now been determined after the storm two weeks ago. That is a loss in value of 30 million euros. And the same amount of money will be needed again to restore the protective function of the forests. Quite a lot of wood. But money alone will not be enough anyway. In the fight against the bark beetle and time, it takes a collective effort from politics to industry. Otherwise there is a risk of even greater damage in the long term.
When tomorrow in Innsbruck, on the initiative of the governor, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, sawmill and forest owners meet for the big summit, then hurry is required. A little money, a few assurances, various declarations of intent will definitely not be enough. Solutions are needed quickly. Because part of the forest from the Zillertal to the Pitztal is simply on the ground – and you only have to look to East Tyrol to see that this will have permanent negative consequences.
Internal calculations leave four months to process the damaged wood and remove it from the forest. A look into the past and towards East Tyrol shows how difficult it is. The country made a lot of money here, tried a lot overall – and in the end you still had to recognize that you were partially on the losing battle. The bark beetle ate its way through various forests and caused massive damage. The protective function is no longer available in places. As a result, expensive and urgent construction works have to be carried out to protect residential areas. If that doesn’t work, in the worst case, a house could very quickly end up in the red zone.
One of the biggest problems: This work is difficult and dangerous at the same time. Appropriate skilled workers are more scarce than ever – and there is also a lot of damaged wood elsewhere. So when the country invites you to the forest summit, it is an important and urgently needed initiative. But you have to take concrete steps. The little bark beetle may seem insignificant, but it can do massive damage. It will take decades to reforest the destroyed forests. In view of the increasing damage caused by storms, we need our forest as a natural protective shield more urgently than ever.
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