Forest abundance with dark sides: Austria’s biodiversity in danger – 2024-03-22 00:43:32

On “Forest Day”, animal and environmental protection associations draw attention to the disastrous condition of the forest due to enormous densities of game and at the same time limited habitat

Vösendorf (OTS) – Almost half of Austria is forested and the forest area is increasing every year. This puts Austria at the forefront of the EU. So much for the positive. Nevertheless, the biodiversity of the forests, their protective effect and the absolutely necessary natural regeneration appropriate to the location leave much to be desired.

“According to wildlife impact monitoring, 2/3 of the Austrian forest cannot be rejuvenated with the tree species appropriate to the location because the hoofed game population has been bred far beyond the natural level and not just since yesterday, but for over 50 years. The Court of Audit calculated the annual damage caused in the forest by game browsing alone to be currently EUR 200 million,” explains qualified engineer Franz Puchegger, chairman of the Austrian Ecological Hunting Association.

The Austrian forest inventory shows that 8% of the forest shows peeling damage and that the sensitive protective forests are particularly badly affected by excessive wildlife. Due to the severe aging of the protective forests and the beginning of the decay phase, there is an exorbitant need for rejuvenation with climate-fit tree species, which cannot take place due to excessive game numbers.

“The game damage report, which is presented to Parliament every year, clearly shows the disastrous condition of the forest, but for years it has been a fun, parliamentary hunter discussion without consequences. Despite this dreariness in our forests, the hunting horn continues to be blown vigorously, fed, the best trophies are chosen and politicians postulate the importance of hunting and focus on the commonality. The desperate, mostly small forest owners, have to fence their forests in order to raise the young plants. Paradoxically, subsidies are even distributed under certain circumstances. A nice symptom treatment, but no root cause analysis. In Lower Austria alone, around 500,000 linear meters of wildlife fencing were funded last year, and the length of fences erected without funding is probably significantly higher,” says Puchegger.

Enormous game densities combined with a simultaneous restriction of the wild animals’ habitat are the causes of the disastrous situation. A sad testimony to this is the 120,000 wild animals killed on Austria’s roads every year. “However, the urgent reduction of the hoofed game population and a paradigm shift are not seen in the responsible state hunting associations; on the contrary, their current image campaign suggests: “The system is good, only the stupid, urban public doesn’t know it yet.” That’s why we – the Ecological Hunting Association of Austria, Animal Protection Austria, the Association against Animal Factories and the Wild Animals in Science and Research Working Group – are ushering in a new era in Austria’s hunting grounds. Less bureaucracy, more ecology, more animal protection and more species protection in the referendum “For a federal hunting law,” continues Puchegger.

The animal protection organization Tierschutz Austria also states that wolves, like predators in general, are necessary to ensure the ecological balance and the healthy development of the marsupial population. “An extensive study shows that wolves help rejuvenate forests. Wolves regulate the population of hoofed game and thus reduce the damage caused by browsing in the forest. The belief that humans can control nature better than they control themselves is dangerous. Predators and prey have lived together in cycles of life for millions of years until humans began to fragment their habitats and separate them with horror stories,” says MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic President of the Vienna Animal Protection Association (Tierschutz Austria).
www.bundesjagdgesetz.at

Questions & Contact:

Animal Protection Austria
Jonas von Einem
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Jonas.from one@tierschutz-austria.at
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