HortiBonn at the 'Water & Drought' event series Euskirchen

On 23 Oct 2024, HortiBonn’s Dr. Alex Röll appeared as one of three speakers in the event series ‘Water & Drought’ (Wasser & Trockenheit) as organized by the district of Euskirchen near Bonn. The focus of this 7th event of the series was on ‘Forests in times of climatic change’ (Wald in Zeiten des Klimawandels). The talk of Alex Röll focused on the scientific background – and particularly the uncertainties – of observed and further expected climatic changes in Germany, the mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality and the state of German forests after the drought years 2018, 2019 and 2020. This was followed by two talks providing a more regional, forest-practitioner and forest-owner oriented perspective including concrete measures for silvicultural adaption under climate change by Christoph Bölts and Heiner Heile (Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz NRW). The talks were followed by active discussions and rounds of questions with the forestry-interested audience and the panel members. In light of the extensive forest mortality in the state of North Rhine Westfalia (NRW) after the droughts of the past years, particularly in stands of Norway spruce, the forest sector still faces many challenges and uncertainties but can draw from decades of experience in transforming forests at risk to more species-rich, structurally diverse, broadleaf-dominated and climate-resilient stands. For interested forest owners and practitioners, broad knowledge and information regarding such transformation processes is publicly made available at www.waldinfo.nrw.