According to the state forestry company, the trees in Saxony's forests have yielded far too little seed this year to meet the demand for forest conversion. The result is "mixed to sobering", said state forestry president Utz Hempfling on Wednesday. A total of 110 kilograms of pure seed had been collected in the state forest. However, 500 kilograms would be needed to grow enough new trees. The foresters would now have to try to import seeds.
The reason for the poor yield is climate change. "The unmistakable climate change is also weakening the crops. The parent trees are under stress and are not producing enough or usable seed," said Hempfling.
The biggest concern is the copper beech. Only in the western and central Ore Mountains were there enough beechnuts, in the other regions too few were harvested. The yields of oak and silver fir were also poor.
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