German Govt. Report - Black Forest In Worst Condition Ever Recorded

[hatrack]

EDIT

"The agriculture ministry also acknowledges the problem has become acute. In a report this month, it said that Germany's woodlands have never been in such bad shape. One in four trees is damaged, and the number of those worst hit has increased by eight percent over the last year, the report said.

The development is particularly disturbing in the Black Forest, which is considered to be 40 percent "damaged", the worst attrition rate since 1983. The number of unhealthy trees in this southwest corner of Germany near the French border has risen by 10 percent over 2003, due in part to a drought last year whose effects are being felt with some delay. "You can't just turn a blind eye. The Black Forest has been historically weakened, above all here on the western edges where the wind brings in pollutants from the Rhine valley," says (ed. - researcher Klaus von) Wilpert.

EDIT

The problem is even more pronounced on the other side of Germany, where waste from heavy industry in Poland and the Czech Republic wafts over woodland. While the FVA is singling out the Rhine river basin here, it does admit some responsibility for the problems by having planted trees from 1950-1970 that were not well adapted to the environment. "The spruce grows quickly. We made the error of wanting to rapidly grow wood for cutting," the researcher says, gesturing to a clutch of trees some 10 metres (30 feet) taller than nearby pines planted at the same time. "But it's a fragile tree and its needles are acidic and add to the pollution in the streams and ground water."

EDIT

The FVA also has harsh words for some of those who frequent the forest. Off-road motorcyles and quad bikes abound and their ever-compacting tracks means that rain water runs off rather than seeps into the ground, lowering the water table. This decline in ground water is considered "without doubt the biggest challenge at the moment."

EDIT

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041223/ts_afp/germanyenviroment.041223152017

[havocmom]

1. Developers in AZ will find a way to blame small owls for this.

Or maybe the snail darter is to blame?

Few years back, some gentleman, as soon as he heard I enjoy the outdoors, was trying to impress me with all the mechanized toys he had for traversing wilderness in any sort of weather. When he paused to gage my level of interest, I told him guys like him were why I carried a gun while out hiking. :evilgrin:

Leave only footprints; take only memories and i would add, step lightly that your footprints don't damage much.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. I'm with you, let's end these fucking "dominion theocracy" assholes, now

They use everything from the bible, to commerce, in justifiying the rape of the land.