Students in Salzburg become Wald Champions - Prize for Forest Knowledge!

Students in Salzburg become Wald Champions - Prize for Forest Knowledge!

In Salzburg, the "Wald Champion" campaign brought the school landscape to shake: around 750 students have now been trained to actively work for the protection of our forests. The middle schools Annaberg and Kuchl and the MS Bergheim have won the wooden cup worthy. The ceremonial award ceremony took place in the impressive backdrop of Hohenwerfen Castle, where the proud winners and participants from Flachgau, Tennengau and the city of Salzburg came together in order to present their newly learned knowledge around the forest, reports Meinzirk.at.

The educational action aimed to convey forest knowledge in a playful way and included five stations with various topics. Here, forest functions, ecosystems, the wildlife and especially forest fire prevention were the focus. This initiative was supported by the hunters, the torrent and avalanche development as well as the state fire brigade association. State Councilor Josef Schwaiger underlined the uniqueness of this campaign in Salzburg, while state forest director Michael Mitter praised the project as a valuable addition to regular school lessons. The handmade winner trophies, which have a weight of around four kilograms at a size of around 35 cm, were created with a chainsaw and represent a unique souvenir.

forest fire prevention in the forest and in the training

Meanwhile, a look at Germany shows that the topic of forest fire prevention is not only important in Austria. In Baden-Württemberg in particular, the forest fire ranks have increased for years. Here, around 100 trainees in the Hardtwald near Stutensee learn how important it is to prevent forest fires. During the practice day, the future foresters are working on beating aisles in the forest floor to prevent possible fires. Martin Borowski, deputy forest district manager Forst BW, explains that the "3-time 30 rule" plays a decisive role in this: at risk of forest fire increases at temperatures above 30 degrees, under 30% humidity and at over 30 km/h wind.

Overall, the trainees were able to gain valuable experience at eight stations, from forest fire statistics to a safer handling of forest visitors. The close cooperation between foresters and fire brigade is of central importance. A new tandem concept is sought in which every lower forest authority has a permanent contact for the fire brigade. This should ensure that foresters not only support, but also bring in valuable local knowledge, as the experts emphasize.

forest fire resilience strengthens our forest

In addition, there is the “Waldbrand Klima resilience” (WKR) project in Germany, which researches approaches to forest fire prevention and coping. The focus is on public relations to spread knowledge among the population and to support actors in the forest sector. The WKR training modules provided are free of charge and are aimed at forest specialists and fire brigades to promote integrative forest fire management, explains Wald.fnr.de.

With the provision of recommendations for action for forest fire -resilient forest management, the risk of fires is to be kept under control in order to minimize damage and costs. Practical topics such as the selection of suitable tree species or the management of dead wood are dealt with. These handouts are helpful support in order to promote the forest as a habitat worth protecting and to effectively counter the challenges of climate change.

It becomes clear that a lot is done in both Austria and Germany in order to raise awareness of our forests and to take effective measures for fire prevention. The forest remains an indispensable part of our nature that needs to be protected.