Forests are complex ecosystems. They help maintain biological equilibrium and safeguard the fundamentals on which our lives depend.
They filter pollutants from the air, improve soil quality, prevent erosion, clean and store water, increase air humidity, and alleviate the effects of heat, frost, drought and storms. They serve as sources of raw materials and income, and provide protection and recreation. Forests deserve human protection. Syngenta plays an important role here – for example in Germany.
The country between the rivers Rhine and Oder has some 10.5 million hectares of forest. That is over 29 percent of the entire land surface. Of that, just over half belongs to the state; the rest is private.
Roughly 60 per cent of Germany’s forest consists of conifers such as spruce and pine. Beech comes next with 14 per cent, then oak with ten. In new plantations, foresters are now making special efforts to use locally native trees. Deciduous species are thus growing in numbers. The role of responsible forestry is to maintain and enhance all woodlands’ benefits.
The weather is becoming a problem
Two or three decades ago, pollution in the form of “acid rain” was the major problem. Nowadays, fungi and insects cause the main damage. The weather creates favorable conditions for them: strong fall storms, unusually dry years and snow all contribute. Foresters have to deal systematically with pests in order to prevent long-term damage.
The drought year 2003 saw the numbers of forest pests such as the bark beetle increase dramatically throughout Germany. Conifers such as pine, spruce and Douglas fir suffered particularly badly.
Bark beetles love felled trees
Europe has some 115 species of bark beetle, from the family Scolytidae. They range in size from one to five millimetres and have hard bodies and powerful mandibles. Spruce and fir are most at risk from the European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus and the six-spined spruce bark beetle Pityogenes chalcographus.
Felled trees are particularly at risk if they are left on the ground for any length of time with their barks intact. But standing trees, ailing or even healthy, are also victims. When it finds a suitable host tree, a beetle communicates this by secreting a pheromone (special scent) in its faeces. This triggers a mass invasion that no tree can withstand.
To combat the bark beetle in Germany, Syngenta supplies Karate® WG Forst (active ingredient: lambda-cyhalothrin). Applied to a trunk, its effect lasts three months. This prevents development of the next generation of beetles. By treating wood this way, foresters protect it from damage and quality loss. Syngenta is the clear leader in this sector of the German market.
Helicopter rescues forests
The larvae of various species of moth are further troublesome pests. In recent years, they badly damaged pine and spruce across much of eastern Germany. Here, too, it was the preceding year’s dryness that triggered the build-up of pests.
Without chemical treatment, larvae of the pine moth Dendrolimus pini and nun moth Lymantria monacha devour the pines. Application of Karate® by helicopter, however, recently proved highly effective, and saved wide areas of forest. The very small amounts used even meant that local mushroom pickers did not have to wait for their “harvest”. Tests showed only minor drift.
Foresters chose the Syngenta product over moulting inhibitors and “biological” products because it proved more effective. Under high infection pressure, Karate® achieved the best results.
A further problem, when reforesting, is the large pine weevil Hylobius abietis. This annually causes huge losses by girdling young trees. To combat the problem, nurseries now dip the saplings in Karate® WG Forst. The pest comes into contact with the insecticide on the young trees, which can then grow safely into healthy specimens.
Over the next few years, Syngenta aims to expand its leading role in the fight against German forest pests.
Source text: Syngenta Agro GmbH, Germany
