Journal für Kulturpflanzen 2025, 77(02): Waldschutz im Klimawandel

Quedlinburg

2025

Bandaufführung

40005626

Forest protection comprises measures to avoid or reduce damage from biotic (insect pests, diseases, game) or abiotic (storms, fire, heat, drought, frost etc.) stressors in commercial and natural forests (Reisch, 1974). Such measures can be preventive by reinforcing forest resistance against stress in the long-term, or involve immediate curative actions that seek to reduce or halt occurring damages. The history of forest protection dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when systematic measures were first developed to protect forests from damage caused by insect pests, diseases and competing vegetation. One of the earliest known plant protection applications was the use of mechanical measures and simple chemical agents, such as oil or soap applications, to combat insect infestations (Miller, 1989). The 20th century saw the introduction of modern insecticides and herbicides that enabled large-scale pest control. In the 1920s, for example, the first synthetic substances were used to control insect pests such as the nun moth, which repeatedly caused extensive damage, particularly in Central Europe (Wallner & McManus 1989). Over the years, the importance of using a combination of preventive and curative measures against biotic stressors was recognized, for example through the promotion of mixed forests that are less vulnerable to attack and the removal of infested trees in cases of attack (Milnik, 2007). These developments formed the basis for the concept of integrated forest protection, which is a combination of measures in which the use of plant protection products (PPP) is limited to a strictly necessary level, with priority given to biological, biotechnical and silvicultural measures, and plant breeding. Today, all users of PPP within the EU are obliged to work in compliance with the general principles of integrated pest management, as defined in Annex III of the EU-directive 2009/128/EC.