More trees are needed to counteract climate change. But their growth is partly sabotaged by hungry and hoofed game
Luxembourg's forests are in a poor state. Reforestation and regeneration projects, including the Planzt Mat (plant with us) project - organised in collaboration between Luxembourg Times publisher Mediahuis Luxembourg and the Hëllef fir d'Natur foundation - are attempting to compensate for this damage.
However, such planting initiatives are not immune to natural processes that can affect young trees and new shoot and sees nature working against itself.
However, such planting initiatives are not immune to natural processes that can affect young trees and new shoot and sees nature working against itself.
It is mainly roe deer and red deer that hinder the regrowth of the forest. "Roe deer have spread throughout the country, deer especially in the north. And they will continue to spread," said Frankie Thielen, a biologist and director of the Fondation Hëllef fir d'Natur. The problem is not the species itself, but above all the number of animals - because it is far too high, he said.
Artiodactyls (a type of hooved mammal including deer but also camels) feed on young plant shoots, among other things, and therefore also on young trees that grow back - regardless of whether these have sown naturally or been planted by private individuals or reforestation initiatives.
"The trees can continue to grow, but the tips are always bitten off. And so the trees tend to develop in a bonsai format," explained Thielen. If this goes on for years, the trees could die.
The national Nature and Forestry Administration (ANF) has the problem on its radar. Signs of game browsing are diverse and include "the severe denudation of vegetation or even the loss of habitat for other species such as insects, birds and mammals such as bats," according to the ANF. However, light browsing does not necessarily have to be harmful and can even promote biodiversity, the administration says.
If the area is intact and the environmental conditions are right, forests can regenerate themselves. In Thielen's experience, however, classic forest trees no longer survive game browsing as they are also under stress from drought and other factors.
The extent of the problem of deer browsing for the forest is shown by how quickly the forest grows when the trees are fenced in: where the deer can't go, trees thrive. Where there are no fences, on the other hand, no real forest grows even after 20 years.
"Beech and oak trees are particularly favoured. Deciduous trees in general," said Thielen. These trees are native to Luxembourg and therefore have great added value for insects and birds. The nature and forest administration confirms this and adds: "Rarer species are often browsed more heavily because they are more attractive to game."
Oaks are high up on the preference list. "But this is a tree species that we urgently need in the face of climate change," said the administration.
For Thielen, fences are merely an emergency solution. "If you want to get to the root of the problem, hunting needs to be organised more professionally. But that's a long process," he said.
The Nature and Forestry Administration provides annual statistics on shooting figures, which show that more roe deer and stags are being shot. However, the populations are still far too high. "Hunting should be adapted to the population figures. This will continue to be necessary in the coming decades," Thielen said.
According to the biologist, the problem is that deer and roe deer no longer have any natural predators in Luxembourg. In addition, there are mild winters, which more animals survive. And although wolves are sighted from time to time, the dense population of the country means that they are unable to establish themselves well.
"More wolves wouldn't be a bad thing. But I don't think we'll get to the point where the wolves will manage everything on their own. But I'm not a wolf expert either," said Thielen.
The ANF does not believe that a balance between game and forest is possible in Luxembourg without human intervention. The population density of hoofed game - i.e. cloven-hoofed animals such as roe deer, stags and wild boar - is too high in many places.