The bark beetle density in Saxony is enormous. This is shown by the current catch results of the nationwide bark beetle monitoring. More than 80% of the traps have higher catch numbers than in the record year 2019 at the same time.
If the first wave of bark beetle infestation has already been completed and new trees are already infected, this is particularly important for the mountainous areas.
Forestry workers at the state-owned enterprise Sachsenforst are currently prioritizing rapid detection of infected trees, swift removal of damaged wood and timely debarking of felled spruces. They are also supported by forestry engineering offices and retired colleagues.
Sachsenforst maintains several storage spaces for a volume of more than 300,000 cubic meters. Contracts have also been concluded with companies that take over the relocation of the wood to the storage bins. If this is not possible due to the sheer volume, debarking is carried out, some of which is still manual, but the machine variant will be used more frequently in 2020.
In order to re-forestate the bare areas in a climate-resistant manner, the focus is on sowing, planting and natural regeneration. The creation of the inner edges of the forest should also increase biodiversity.