Climate change-related damages threaten Germany’s iconic forests, with 79% of all trees nationwide reported to be sick, dying, or dead.
The situation: Forester Andre Salamon reports finding dying or dead trees on a daily basis in Germany’s central Harz region.
* Bark beetles have infested a vast region, exploiting trees already weakened by five years of drought.
* Lush trails once familiar to locals and tourists alike now barely resemble their past state.
Cultural impact: The threat to Germany’s forests, which play a significant role in the country’s cultural imagination, has alarmed citizens.
* Forester Salamon’s concern echoes that of local residents and entrepreneurs like Wolf Goertz, who has co-founded the Future Forest Initiative to explore how to stop the damage.
* The forests have featured prominently in German literature and art, symbolizing both threat and resource.
Strategies for survival: Experts argue that redefining forestry practices and understanding the broader climate change context are necessary steps towards addressing the issue.
* Salamon is planting species from the United States known to withstand both high and low temperatures, hoping to help the forests adapt to changing conditions.
* Scientist Henrik Hartmann, head of the Julius Kühn Institute for Forest Protection, emphasizes that climate change affects all tree species and says that a rethinking of forest preservation methods is needed.
In their words: Regardless of uncertainties about the future, Salamon remains hopeful, believing the collective effort to find solutions is not in vain. He says, “I’m not gonna put a bet on what these woods will look like in a hundred years. Maybe this will all be palm trees.”
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