In the wood

Around 244‘000 people own some wood in Switzerland, plus 3‘500 public owners. We are part of this group, having since generations some wood in the family. The law and the rules are very strict to protect the wood, i.e. it‘s under official control and to cut large trees a permission is needed. On the other hand side, an owner can be forced to remove diseased trees.

Today we we had a walk through our wood with an expert, looking at the state and if there is anything to do and the options we have. Generally the wood in Switzerland (as in many other countries around us) is under pressure: Storms, heat/drought and pests (especially the bark beetle). Therefore there is too much wood on the market, the prices on a historic low, therefore not much incentive to invest/keep care of the woods, exposing more wood to storms and beetles. A treacherous cycle that is not easy to break through.

We are quite ok. A few trees were removed this year because of the bark beetle, we discovered a dried out spruce that neds to be felled and a small area to be reforested.