Context

This forest was a typical 1900’s plantation of monoculture of Spruce, Picea abbies, for timber like in most of the thousands of hectares surrounding it and as in many places in Germany, France or Austria.

Unfortunately, the past few summers of drought have weakened these stands which have only superficial roots and no understory to keep the ground moist. They were then got attacked by the bark beetle pest which destroyed huge spans of forests. 

The government asked to clear these dead trees and the sick one as well as create a safety belt. Landowners were also asked to replant within 3 years, but subsidies from the state are conditioned to replanting conifers only.

What the owner needed help with

The goal is to create a stable, climate-adapted forest, which necessarily needs to be a mixed one. 

We know that it is crucial to plant conifers with broadleaves in such environments to ensure resilience and biodiversity.

The owner had replanted 100% spruce the previous summer and the entire stand died during summer because of the drought and the dryness of the ground which had no cover and had become hard as exposed to the sun continuously.

What we did

We prepared the land for planting and were very lucky that the winter of 2022/2023 was very wet.

The objective of the stand is a mix of four tree species planted and every four rows, the tree species is changed. 2,22 x 3,00m spacing between trees:

• Oak (Quercus robur),

• Beech (Fagus sylvatica),

• Silver fir (Abies alba) – endemic of these forests but very palateable to deer so we might need to put tree guards or fence at some point,

• Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) – their roots go very deep and hence should be more resilient to climate change than Picea abies, 

They are from two German plant nurseries.

So far only the conifers have been planted in March and April 2023 as there was snow up until March.

When did the project take place

Winter 2022/2023 and fall 2023

Size of the project 

Restoring 15ha of land with at least 1500 trees per ha as an objective of density between planting and natural regeneration.