It was time to go to the forest again in October this year. Even in the 10th year since its invention, the forest walks for women were well attended. This year's topic "Trees for the future ?!" took a look into the future during five forest walks and an online lecture with a total of around 100 women.
Forestry is probably one of the most long-term branches of the economy, and decisions that have been made "peck". Much is expected of the little trees that germinate or are planted today: They should withstand the increasingly extreme weather conditions over a period of several decades. A short-term change of location or a brisk exchange of tree species are not possible. In addition, the selected or funded tree species should be ecologically and economically valuable. The latter in particular requires appropriate care, and this becomes all the more demanding the more tree species are represented in a stand.
(Almost) everyone can do monoculture. Apart from the risk factor, which is always significantly higher in monocultures, the removal of a stand that consists of only one tree species, usually spruce, is not particularly complicated, well researched and essentially follows a certain scheme, especially in forests with a homogenous age. However, every tree species has different requirements in terms of light, water and nutrient balance and a different space requirement. With every tree species that is added, a new dynamic is created. Accordingly, there is no scheme F for mixed stands, but forest owners are called upon from the outset to take different, adapted measures at different corners. This requires the necessary knowledge so that the right steps can be taken from the start.
And that is exactly what this year's forest walks were about: Which tree species have a future in which regions of Styria, and what care do they require? The forest walks with the stations Reiflingeck-Judenburg, Bruck an der Mur, Hitzendorf, Schildbach and Leutschach took place throughout Styria.
And whoever misses western Upper Styria in this list still has a chance:
The forest walk in Rottenmann had to be postponed due to the weather, and a new date could not be found in October. This walk will therefore be rescheduled for spring 2022! Information on this is available on this websites and on the website of FAST Pichl.