AefU reject wood storage in the forest
The Doctors for Environmental Protection AefU are strictly against the use of insecticides in the forest. The planned amendment of the Forest Ordinance provokes the exact opposite. It wants to allow large roundwood stockpiles in the forest. However, felled, unpeeled softwood logs in the forest are susceptible to the bark beetle.
As can be seen from the AefU media release, in many places felled tree trunks (so-called polters) are already stored along forest roads until it is their turn to be processed in the sawmills (especially spruce). The forest is therefore already a free storage area for the timber industry, which thus saves space and costs. An adjustment in the forest ordinance is now to allow large roundwood storage facilities in favor of the timber industry. "This in the knowledge that this can make the (additional) use of insecticides necessary," the statement continues.
Unpeeled spruce logs stored in the forest are an invitation to the bark beetle (book borer), especially in dry summers. Therefore, they are often preventively sprayed with insecticides (so-called log spraying). This is sometimes even done with prohibited agents (see OEKOSKOP 1/19, "Highly toxic insecticides in the Swiss forest").
Peel or get out of the forest
Environmentally hazardous substances are generally prohibited in the forest. At most, the Environmental Protection Act provides for exceptions if alternative measures have been exhausted. These are simple: If the bark is peeled off the logs, they are no longer attractive to the beetle. Or the logs are stored outside the forest. The industry shies away from both for reasons of cost and space. Insecticides are then often used without the necessary authorization, as AefU research has shown. There is a major deficit in the enforcement of the ban.
Black Box Log Storage
Furthermore, the proposed log storage facilities are not defined in any way. Neither with regard to location, traffic volume, area nor volume are there any binding specifications. All this would remain at the discretion of the municipalities as licensing authorities. The storage areas may be sealed - in the middle of the forest. This could even be done with tar, a toxic material that is hardly used elsewhere. Such storage areas would obviously be industrial areas, but these are prohibited in the forest.
Background Information:
-
-
-
