Oct 18, 2021
Indian Summer in Tharandt: Visit of State Minister Wolfram Günther in the Forest Park Tharandt of the TU Dresden
The blaze of colors of American sugar maples and sugar birch trees cannot even be harmed by the autumn drizzle. Together with the more than five hundred other woody species of the North American part in the Forest Park in Tharandt, they offered the Saxon Minister for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture Wolfram Günther an impressive play of colors in red, orange, yellow and green tones during his visit on October 14th.
Prof. Andreas Roloff (l.) with state minister Wolfram Günther (r.).
Guided by Prof. Andreas Roloff, professor for forest botany at the TU Dresden and director of the Forest Park Tharandt, the minister was able to experience the diversity of the part of the garden that was only created and planted 20 years ago.
While walking through the historical part of the garden and having a round of talks in the Schweizerhaus, the experts exchanged perspectives on the handling and experiences of non-native tree species, especially under the influence of climate change.
Another important point of the meeting was environmental education. The forest adventure workshop SYLVATICON has existed in the forest garden for almost 25 years, in which over 85,000 children and young people have already participated in over 3,400 events. Together with the Sachsenforst state enterprise, environmental education is being operated successfully here and should definitely be continued.
After the visit, Prof. Roloff sees a multitude of common concerns among the ministry and the plant sciences: “Trees can make an outstanding contribution to solving environmentally relevant issues and challenges, not only through their carbon capture, cooling and air filtering, but also for mental health and the well-being of the general public. In addition to forests, parks and city trees also play an important role. Therefore, I would be pleased about the expansion of the cooperation as well as joint projects and initiatives."
Visit of state minister Wolfram Günther in the Forest Park Tharandt (f.l.t.r.): Dr. Ullrich Scheidereit, Forestry Department SMEKUL, Prof. Andreas Roloff, Prof. Hans-Gerd Maas, Dean Fac. Environmental Sciences, Mandy Arndt, Faculty Administrator, Dr. Ulrich Pietzarka, Custodian Forest Park Tharandt, Prof. Karsten Kalbitz, Speaker Forest Sciences, Prof. Lars Bernard, CDIO, Prof. Goddert von Oheimb, Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation and Wolfram Günther.
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