Faced with a growing number of forest fires, the German Forestry Council (Deutscher Forstwirtschaftsrat, DFWR) is calling for targeted forest conversion and improved early detection. "This year we have to acknowledge that forest fires are occurring more frequently and are now also reaching regions that we have not previously counted among Germany's classic forest fire areas," DFWR President Christian Haase told the Rheinische Post (Saturday edition).
"Climate change is advancing faster than we long assumed – and faster than our forest ecosystems can adapt to it," Haase explained. "The most important long-term answer is therefore: forest conversion, forest conversion, forest conversion." What is needed, he said, are structurally rich, multi-layered mixed forests with a higher proportion of broadleaf trees and vigorous natural regeneration.
The forestry sector has been working on forest conversion for decades, Haase went on. "The problem is that the speed of climate change is putting increasing pressure on us in this generational project."
Regardless of that, he said, it has to be accepted that forest fires could occur more frequently in Germany in future. "That makes early detection and rapid initial firefighting all the more decisive," the DFWR President said. "We need well-trained personnel, modern early warning systems and an infrastructure that makes rapid firefighting possible in the first place. That includes drivable forest roads as well as water extraction points for firefighting."
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