Mild winter causes earlier bark beetle infestation in Austria

The bark beetle infestation in Austria’s forests started particularly early due to the mild winter of 2020 and will again cause great economic damage for forest owners, the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture (LKO) informs.

The situation is worse than in previous years. The bark beetle has been present since January. Lower Austria, Upper Austria and parts of Styria are particularly affected. In order to get the damaged wood out of the forest as quickly as possible without affecting business, the President of the LKO, Josef Moosbrugger, is demanding around € 1 billion in state aid over the next three years.

He sees the domestic paper industry and sawmill industry as “jointly responsible”. If you prefer to import wood from abroad instead of domestic wood, then the bark beetle wood will remain in the forest in Austria, he warns.