German forest ‘dying’

That’s probably a topic that most outside of Germany are not familiar with, but Germans really care about the forest. What forests don’t like are high temperatures, droughts, and extreme weather. All of which we had plenty of in the recent past. So maybe its not all that surprising that the German forest is in a really bad shape. So bad that German Spiegel writes that the German forest is “dying”. Only 21% of trees have an undamaged crown, the lowest number ever recorded. A surprising cause of this decline: monoculture. Many of Germany’s forests aren’t all that natural. They have been created, e.g., to serve the early mining industry many centuries ago. And of course for that purpose (or whatever other purpose) you would only plant whatever kind of tree serves you best. So bark beetles are having a blast right now.