HarzWB

Project

Forest fire risk and prevention in Harz National Park and adjacent managed forests (500 m) as case study for low mountain ranges in Germany

Project period

10/2020 - 11/2022

Project partners

Land Sachsen-Anhalt, Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Energie, Klimaschutz und Umwelt
Land Sachsen-Anhalt, Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Tourismus, Landwirtschaft und Forsten
Technische Universität Dresden, Professur für Waldschutz
Institut für Brand- und Katastrophenschutz Heyrothsberge
Nationalpark Harz
Landeszentrum Wald Sachsen-Anhalt
Niedersächsische Landesforsten

Project description

The question whether and to which extent there is a risk for forest fires in low mountain ranges is of increasing importance. There are still large areas with spruce monocultures in these regions due to their history. The management form and the extreme drought events in recent years have contributed to large-scale damage or death of spruce.

With regard to the forest fire risk it has to be considered that in addition to a lack of forest infrastructure, not removing dead trees may lead to a higher fire load in forest national parks. The HarzWB research and development project focusses on this special situation in low mountain ranges using the example of the Harz National Park. Zur Abschätzung einer potenziellen Waldbrandgefährdung und der Entwicklung von Präventionsmaßnahmen werden u.a. die Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, von Besuchern stark genutzte Wanderwege, Flächen mit hoher Brandlast und schwer zugängliches Gelände in die Untersuchung einbezogen. The Harz narrow-gauge railway, highly frequented hiking trails, sites with a high fire load and sites that are difficult to access are included in the studies to estimate the potential forest fire risk and to develop prevention measures.

The forest fire protection concept is developed in close collaboration with local fire brigades, experts for fire and disaster control, the Harz National Park and the forest administration of the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony.

Project staff

M. Sc. Manuela Böhme, Researcher

This project is funded by

Land Sachsen-Anhalt, Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Energie, Klimaschutz und Umwelt