The Harz was parti\u00adcu\u00adlarly affected by the extreme drought of recent years, with its large stand-off-site spruce stands. Large areas of forest died off and now need our swift support so that they can quickly become a climate-resilient and future-proof forest ecosystem again.<\/p>\n
At present, it is assumed nation\u00adwide that forest dieback has affected an area of 500,000 hectares as a result of the drought years, with around 90 percent of the damaged timber consis\u00adting of conife\u00adrous wood, predo\u00admi\u00adnantly spruce.<\/p>\n
In the Harz, two thirds of the spruce trees on around 21,000 hectares have now died. So far, only just under 1,000 hectares of forest have been replanted each year. The remai\u00adning areas, mostly comple\u00adtely cleared to prevent the further spread of the bark beetle or the outbreak of fires, left the soil unpro\u00adtected. Wind erosion, humus deple\u00adtion and drying out greatly reduced the soil\u2019s water reten\u00adtion capacity and also have a negative effect on biodi\u00adver\u00adsity and the surroun\u00adding forest areas.<\/p>\n