Forest Wilderness in the National Park
Melting snow makes mess visible on the roadside.
Wilderness is a declared goal in the Gesäuse National Park. This is what it says in its new strategic management plan and - in other words - also in the National Park Act of 2002. Especially in the forest, the renunciation of use still causes many a local to shake their heads. Are assets really being destroyed if wood is not used?
"Not at all" says National Park Director Herbert Wölger. Wölger should know, he graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences and has dealt professionally with all aspects of forest and economy: "A national park pursues other goals. There, wood is not turned into short-term money, but into a substrate for countless wood-dwelling insects, fungi and lichens. In other words, wood that has been milled contributes to biodiversity, climate protection and water quality. This can also be valued in monetary terms, which brings us back to money - and a positive balance. Recently, the German magazine "Spiegel" published a worldwide study by the University of Cambridge which shows that wilderness areas and national parks represent a natural value in today's world that has a higher monetary value than agricultural land. But that's always the case: what is rare and useful at the same time has a higher monetary value."
When the snow cover melts away, wilderness images may well appear at the roadside in the national park. Our eyes are used to "order" in the forest, just like neatly trimmed lawns in gardens. The wild does not have this order, which is why it is particularly important to those responsible in the Gesäuse National Park that the "disorder" of the forest wilderness is noticed and seen. So it should come as no surprise when trees at risk of breaking are felled along the Gesaeuse road for safety reasons, but are left lying on the ground. This has already led to many an "upset", which head of communications Andi Hollinger acknowledges with a smile and a Californian-Styrian "mission completed".
Enquiry notes:
Herbert Wölger (Gesäuse National Park): 0664 - 82 52 300
Andreas Hollinger (Gesäuse National Park): 0664 - 82 52 305
General press enquiries: Isabella Mitterböck, Tel: 0664 -34 65 629
