17 June 2024 – WWF Hungary has been working with private forest owners within the CLIMA4CEELIFE project to implement climate-friendly forest management practices that enhance forests’ resilience to climate change using simple, nature-based methods. A climate adaptation guide was developed to help forest owners assess and improve their current practices. Partners across various regions of Hungary created and began implementing adaptation plans tailored to their forests.
“We believe these positive examples are extremely important, as increasingly extreme weather presents forest managers with new or greater challenges than before. We are convinced that one of the best ways to address these challenges is by working with nature—supporting natural processes to enrich our forests’ ecological systems”, said Pál Bódis, forest expert of WWF Hungary.
Our collaborating partners have already completed the first implementation phase, carrying out interventions expected to result in healthier and more climate-resilient forests:
Gábor Flamich who has forests in the Börzsöny Mountains is creating a more diverse, mixed-species, multi-aged forest structure by opening additional small gaps in his forest in Kosd. He also built small hand-made dams which partially permeate the water, in erosion gullies located in his demonstration areas near Vác, Kosd, and Nagybörzsöny. These dams help retain sediment and water, thereby preserving the productivity of the forest soil. Based on the experience of previous drought years, and in consultation with the Duna-Ipoly National Park Directorate, he also planned to deepen a small forest water body to retain more water during wet periods. However, due to the wet weather of the past six months, the previously dry depression has filled with water and life again, so this intervention has been postponed until a more suitable time.
Tamás Frank faces different challenges in his mixed forest of Scots pine and black pine near Bátor, Heves County. His aim is to gradually transform the stand, using frequent tending harvests, to favour native tree regeneration and the remaining older native trees. To this end, he has carried out interventions to support regeneration, such as:
- opening small gaps (≤ 100 m²);
- protecting native regeneration and shrubby forest edges from browsing by applying repellent to the shoot tips;
- removing pines to favour native regeneration;
- partially opening the canopy over shrub clusters and lower-level native trees.
By enriching forest habitats, he aims to improve the area’s resistance to pests and diseases. To support this, he increased the amount of deadwood of the pine stock, installed nesting boxes for owls and tits, and created small woodpile habitats that encourage the presence of small vertebrates like hedgehogs, reptiles, and amphibians.
For István Haluska, a forest manager in Komlóska (Zemplén Mts), one of the main challenges is gradually replacing dying spruces in one forest section with naturally emerging native species such as sessile oak, maples, and ashes. This alone is a major task, but the area opened by the declining spruce has also become populated with aggressively spreading non-native red oak seedlings, which require special attention. These are managed through labour-intensive manual removal and by supporting native shrubs and tree species to develop a more natural, diverse, and thus more resilient forest structure. In his demonstration plots involved in the project, he installed “A, B, and C”-type bird nesting boxes and jay boxes to improve habitat availability and support the regeneration of native sessile oak.
Péter Laczkó in his forests near Füzérkajata (Zemplén Mts) selected standing deadwood and habitat trees in line with his climate adaptation plan. To diversify the forest’s structure and species composition, he opened gaps to allow naturally appearing native seedlings to strengthen. He also complemented the natural regeneration by planting seeds of valuable native species. So far, no tending has been necessary for the gaps, but he continues to monitor regeneration and will carry out maintenance work if needed.
Currently, he is taking inventory of deadwood and marking live trees. The fencing of the gaps will take place afterward. All the listed work is being done alone, as the shortage of forest workers in the region is becoming an increasing problem.
We also created short videos (in Hungarian language) with our partner forest managers showcasing the interventions carried out in their areas: