fFor the State Secretary for the Environment, Oliver Conz (Die Grünen), the Hessian forest is the “big loser of climate change”. Heat and drought, resulting in a massive spread of pests such as the bark beetle, have severely affected the forest in recent years. The spruce in particular, which at times accounted for more than 20 percent of the tree species distribution, cannot do anything to counteract this. In the meantime, around 90,000 hectares of bare land have to be planted with trees that, according to Conz, have died “at an unimaginable rate”. He speaks of a “traumatic experience” for the forest. There are no panaceas for the forest of the future.
On a good half of the bare forest area, the Ministry of the Environment and the Hessenforst state company trust that the forest will help itself. The foresters call the reforestation by their own efforts natural succession. The remaining area has to be planted at great expense so that Hessen remains one of the most densely forested federal states in the long term. Last year alone, Hessenforst planted around 4.6 million young trees in the 340,000 hectare state forest, a total of 13 million since 2018.
On Tuesday, Hessenforst presented how and with which trees the forest of the future will be designed in a forest area managed by the Wiesbaden-Chausseehaus forestry office not far from the Platte hunting lodge.
Many hopes rest on the oak
A 13,000 square meter forest area is completely fenced in there. Four years ago, according to the head of the forestry department, Ralf Bördner, there was still a closed, intact spruce forest that was around 75 years old. Everything is bare now. If the fence is successful in keeping deer and deer from nibbling on the young shoots that follow, a mixed forest of oak and hornbeam will grow over the years. Because the oak tree in particular needs a lot of light, the forester took the opportunity to specifically control the forest development through planting rather than leaving it to the forest itself.
Enemy of the spruce: forest workers cut down the conifers because they endanger the water quality of streams.
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Image: Marcus Kaufhold
Many hopes for the climate-stable forest rest on the oak. Almost every fourth tree that was newly planted on bare land last year was an oak. One in three was a Douglas fir, although many conservationists have long opposed the North American immigrant. Therefore, Conz does not want to speak of a paradigm shift either: When choosing tree species, Hesse continues to primarily trust domestic and well-adapted woods. Larch and fir are now also being increasingly planted. The dead trees in the surrounding Wiesbaden forest show how difficult it is for the spruce. Man does the rest. In the neighboring Silberbach nature reserve, forest workers have fired up their chainsaws and started to “de-crush” the area. According to the forest’s nature conservation guideline, spruces no longer have a place in stream valleys because the needle litter has a negative impact on the water quality.
Reforestation through planting is also not easy because of the lack of young trees. Added to this is the weather. Hessenforst boss Gerst estimates that almost every third of the newly planted trees did not survive the summer. Depending on the situation in the forest, the district foresters decide whether and where to replant. Gerst announced that the replanting will continue in the coming years. According to Conz, investments in the forest are a priority in the double budget. A total of 155 million euros would be made available for reforestation and forest conversion over the next two years. Conz speaks of a “Herculean task”.
Future of the forest rather bleak
The consequences of climate change are therefore also felt financially. According to Gerst, the state company has an annual result of minus 48 million euros for 2021 after minus 57 million euros in the previous year. The majority of this is due to depreciation of forest assets: bare areas are reflected in a balance sheet in a completely different way than a vital forest. Added to this is the effort involved in maintaining the newly created forest areas. The 2.7 million cubic meters of harvested wood don’t help much, especially since 60 percent of the amount was due to losses caused by climate change.
And the future of the forest looks rather bleak. According to Gerst, Hesse is also a forest country because 84 percent of the forest area has been classified as favorable for tree growth. According to scientific forecasts, this value will drop to just two percent in the years after 2040. “It is no longer a matter of course that forests in Hesse are growing well,” says Conz, summing up the precarious starting position.
There is no ideal solution for the forest, says the State Secretary and adds: “We will also make mistakes”, because the development of the trees in the coming decades and centuries cannot be reliably estimated. From the country’s point of view, however, the forest has a decisive role to play in the fight against the climate crisis. At least in places, it fulfills this role in ways other than wood: According to Hessenforst, 129 wind turbines were in operation on its forested area at the end of 2021 and another 41 were under construction.
