Harvesting at lofty heights: cone pickers harvest seeds

Harvest time in Saxony's forests: The seeds are ripe and the seed harvest can begin, according to the state enterprise Sachsenforst. The start was made in the Eibenstock forest district with the Douglas firs, whose cones must still be green when they are picked.

The work is accompanied by a drone. With its help, it is possible to check in advance which trees are worth harvesting. It also provides an overview of the stands. "The drone helps us to assess the treetops in a targeted manner and also provides an impressive demonstration of how our cone pickers work. Every seed counts, because it is a small building block for the forests of the future," explained Johannes Riedel, head of the Eibenstock forest district.

The harvested cones are then cleaned, dried and processed into seed in the Flöha state kiln. The cone pickers have special training and are equipped with climbing technology.

Seed is considered "gold dust"

According to Sachsenforst, the seed of tree species such as Douglas fir and silver fir can be described as "gold dust". Douglas fir in particular is one of the beacons of hope in forest conversion. Due to bark beetles and water shortages, there are now thousands of hectares of open areas in Germany that need to be reforested. "Douglas fir will play a central role in this: It is a light tree species, comparatively robust and can manage with less water than spruce."