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Clear areas in the Harz Mountains reach a new high

In the Harz Mountains in particular, extreme droughts and bark beetles have taken their toll on the trees. The clear-cut areas are huge. But there is reason for hope.

View of snow-covered spruces. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de
View of snow-covered spruces. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Agriculture - Clear areas in the Harz Mountains reach a new high

Despite reforestation, clear-cut areas in the Harz have reached a new high. In the Harz district, around 26.5 percent of the forest area is affected by clear-cutting, the district administration announced on Thursday. As in the previous year, this corresponds to around 20,400 hectares. The size of the clear-cut areas has reached its peak this year. A trend reversal can be seen in the development of the tree population. A positive development is slowly becoming apparent.

As reforestation measures are beginning to take effect, it can be assumed that the tree population in the Harz forests will stabilize in the coming years, said Torsten Sinnecker, head of the district's environmental department. In the long term, according to the district, around 2000 hectares of forest should be reforested each year. In recent years, the clear-cut areas had increased every year and grew by almost 4,600 hectares between 2020 and 2022.

In addition to private donations and initiatives, the state provided around 11.8 million euros for reforestation throughout the state this year alone. In view of the high number of clear-cut areas, Forestry Minister Sven Schulze (CDU) recently spoke of a task that would take several decades.

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Source: www.stern.de

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