EU funding for forest conversion
The city of Chemnitz's forestry operation is making its forest fit for climate change
A key objective of the Parks Department is to gradually adapt the forest stands to the predicted climate changes. This means that the large proportion of pure spruce stands will be reduced in favour of mixed stands with deciduous trees and fir. This is done by means of so-called pre-cultivation. This means that young red beech, sycamore maple, winter lime and silver fir are planted in previously thinned spruce stands.
Both the Saidenbach and Zeisigwald districts have been granted funding for this by the state enterprise Sachsenforst. The projects are being implemented as part of the 2014-2020 development programme for rural areas in the Free State of Saxony (EPLR) and co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
For the project, a total of 3 hectares of spruce forest were underplanted with red beech, sycamore and silver fir in autumn 2016 in areas around the Saidenbach dam and in Fritzschenholz. The firs and some beech and maple areas were fenced off against browsing by game. In the summer of 2017, the young plants were cleared of growth-inhibiting vegetation such as grass and bramble.
In spring 2017, after logging, red beech, silver fir, winter lime and sycamore were also planted on a total of 3.75 hectares in Klaffenbach in Rödelwald and in Harthau in the Alte Harth forest area, and the firs, limes and maples, which are particularly favoured by roe deer, will be fenced off for the first few years. This project is also being subsidised by the EAFRD up to and including the initial cultivation.
In the Saidenbach district, the proportion of mixed tree species was further increased in spring 2018 by planting in the Forchheimer Heide and in Mittelsaida using EAFRD funding. A total of 3.4 hectares of young red beech and silver fir were planted in spruce forest.