Erfurt (dpa/th) - Since the beginning of the year, more than three million cubic meters of damaged wood have been caused by the bark beetle in Thuringia's forests. In September alone, around 503,000 cubic meters of other infested wood were recorded in the forests, said a spokesman for the state-owned Thüringenforst on Wednesday. That's a little less than expected, but still comparable to 2021 and 2020.
According to Volker Gebhardt from the Thüringenforst board, the full extent of the damage to the spruce stands "cannot yet be reliably estimated". However, a total of around 4 million cubic meters of damaged wood can realistically be expected by the end of the year.
The bark beetle has a firm grip on the spruce-rich low mountain ranges in the forest offices of Sonneberg, Neuhaus, Gehren, Frauenwald and Saalfeld-Rudolstadt. The Schleiz forestry office in eastern Thuringia's lower altitudes was also badly affected. Infested trees would have to be removed from the forests as part of the winter clean-up to prevent the pests from flying out in spring 2023.
