Bärenthoren’s Dauerwald and its actuality

Abstract

Bärenthoren’s Dauerwald and its actuality. The Dauerwald (= continuous forest) proposed by Alfred Möller in 1920, which has been central in the debate on forests in Central Europe for quite some time, was examined after a recent excursion to the Scots pine forests of Bärenthoren (Saxen-Anhalt, North-East Germany), where Friedrich von Kalitsch developed this type of management over a century ago. The forests described at Möller’s times have changed considerably since then, even if the original management policies are still applied, with appropriate adaptation. Interest in the more general principles of Dauerwald has increased in recent decades. The current relevance of continuous cover, diversity of species (biodiversity) and the production of high-quality wood are discussed, with a view to environmental changes, new needs of society, and economic uncertainties. In a still open debate on the importance of silvicultural approaches which are closer to natural processes, the history of the Dauerwald offers different perspectives on various aspects of forest management and sustainable use of ecosystem resources, but also working and study hypotheses in forest conditions different from those in central-Europe.

Keywords

• Dauerwald
• Continuous Cover Forestry
• Close-to-nature Forestry
• Sustainable Forest Management
• Sylvicultural Systems
• Germany