Forgot your password?
Forest in Vorarlberg
|
About one third - or 233,000 acres - of Vorarlberg is covered in woodlands. About half of these are protection and avalanche forests.
|
|
|
Most areas are characterised by well balanced mixed forests. 50% of the woodlands are made up of spruce trees, followed by the Queen of the trees, the Silver Fir, which constitutes 25% of the forests. About one third, or 233,000 acres, of Vorarlberg is covered in forests. The forest areas and the diversity that can be found in them, are indispensable nature oriented places of balance in our country. The wood from these forests is not only an important raw material, but it also creates thousands of jobs. Over 3,500 people here live from the forest industry. We also depend on the forests for protection from avalanches and mud slides, for safeguarding our drinking water and for tourism. We just could not do without them. We live from the forest - a fact that many people are not aware enough of. Since people started settling here, a cultural forest was created which can only fulfil its purpose if it is utilized and cultivated by the people who live here. „Protection by utilization“ is the motto for an industrial forest, like the ones that exist in Vorarlberg. The motto generates a fundamental part of the basics upon which life depends. About half of the woodlands are protection and avalanche forests. They protect settlements and transportation routes from the effects of mud slides and avalanches. If these protection and avalanche forests were taken away, more than two thirds of the state would be in danger. The material damages would be enormous. It is our responsibility to protect this area through proper maintenance, regeneration provisions and protection measures. The nature oriented development of the forests in Vorarlberg, is seen in the dispersion of the species of trees: In most areas there are balanced, mixed forests. 50% of these forests are spruce trees, followed by the Silver Fir tree - the Queen of the trees - with 25%. Another thing that speaks for the nature oriented utilization of the forests is that there is hardly a difference in the species of trees - whether the industrial forest is used mainly for the production of wood or for protection. The forest line in Vorarlberg lies at about 1,700 meters, but it can be as high as 2,000 meters like in the Montafon. Two thirds of the forests are situated at over 1,000 meters. A significant point is that 70,000 acres of the forests whose function is to protect, grow on slopes that have a 60% incline. The annual growth of wood is 6.6 solid cubic meters per hectare. This means that twice as much wood grows as is utilized. On the one hand, this means that there is a high reserve of usable wood, and on the other hand, an excess of age is a natural consequence. This means that almost one fifth of our trees are over 140 years old. Hence, regeneration has a special meaning. |
|
|
|
|