Society of Irish Foresters study tour to Trentino, Italy, 2022

Abstract

In the early morning of 13th September, 44 members of the Society of Irish Foresters departed Dublin Airport on a flight to Verona, Italy to begin the first annual study tour to Italy. Trentino is one of just five autonomous regions in Italy - other well-known autonomous regions are Sardinia and Sicily. Most decisions are made locally but some are made centrally in Rome, though locals are seldom happy with Rome’s dictums. Trentino is located in the Dolomitic Alps and its forests occur at very high elevations between 1,000 – 3,000 m, almost 80% of the forests grow in the 1,000-2,000 m zone. The main transport artery (E45/A22) on the valley floor connects Italy with Austria and Germany to the north via the famous Brenner Pass. The flat valley bottom which is drained by the Adige River, Italy’s second longest, is well-known as an important fruit-growing region. Trentino has 55% forest cover and 80% of these forests are owned by the Trentino Region. Private forests are very small, averaging only 3 ha, consist of mostly broadleaved species and tend to be located near the valley bottoms. The forest comprises Norway spruce (Picea abies) 58%, European larch (Larix decidua) 18%, silver fir (Abies alba)11%, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) 6%, Swiss pine or stone pine (Pinus cembra) 2%, beech (Fagus sylvestris) 4% and the remainder are minor broadleaves. The Est Alpine region suffered a catastrophic storm in October 2018 during which an area with 10 million m3 was windblown in a few hours. A further 1 million m3 had to be felled later as it was devastated by the spruce bark beetle Ips typographus. The normal timber production is 500,000 m3 per annum. The region, like much of Central Europe, has suffered severe damage from the spruce bark beetle in recent years. It is thought that this is a consequence of climate change bringing hotter summers and less rain.