Forest maintenance work in the municipal forests

The forest maintenance work, which will begin at the end of October 2013, should be completed by the end of February 2014 at the latest. The work will take place in the following forest areas: Zeisigwald, Schneller Markt, Glösaer Wald, Sechsruthen, Crimmitschauer Wald, Heilstättenwald, Hutholz, Tiergarten and Alte Harth. Traffic safety work will also be carried out in other forest areas of the city. The exact location of the forest work sites is published on the website of the City of Chemnitz - here is the link: http://www.chemnitz.de/chemnitz/de/die-stadt-chemnitz/gruenes_chemnitz/forst/kommunalwald/index.html

Background: The basis for the scheduled annual forest maintenance work in the municipal forests of the city of Chemnitz is the city council resolution on the ten-year forest management plan for the years 2005 to 2014. In addition to their protective and recreational functions, many municipal forests also fulfil a utility function for people, and it is only in designated protected areas that no commercial timber extraction takes place: For example, in the three certified reference areas, the areas of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (so-called FFH areas) and in several wooded area natural monuments, such as the five beech stands in the Zeisigwald. Based on one year and one hectare of forest area (= 10,000 m²), the forests of the city of Chemnitz produce approx. 9.5 m³ of wood. In accordance with a city council resolution, 5.5 m³ of this is utilised commercially and 4 m³ is used to further increase the living wood stock in the city's own forests. Around 20% of the trees are removed from the stands during scheduled thinning: These are weak trees or those with wood defects (e.g. curvature, twisted growth, over-rolling, frost ridge, etc.), but from which stable boards and beams can be produced in the sawmill. However, the aim of the thinning work is also to increase the stability of the remaining trees against environmental influences, to influence the composition of the tree species and to favourably influence the future timber growth of the remaining trees.

A total of approx. 4,500 m³ of raw wood is harvested in the winter months and utilised for material or energy purposes. The acceptance of the raw wood by the wood processing industry is contractually bound. The mechanically harvested raw wood is processed into various assortments and temporarily stored on forest roads accessible by lorry. This will inevitably also affect forest roads. After removal of the temporarily stored raw wood assortments, the forest roads will be repaired again; this also depends on the weather and experience shows that it will not be completed before July 2014.

Forest areas and forest paths closed during the work: Walkers should be aware that forest areas and forest paths will be temporarily closed to passers-by for safety reasons for the duration of the felling and/or processing (based on the Saxon Forest Act, Section 11, Paragraph 3). After all, a tree 30 metres high, for example, has a danger radius of at least 30 metres. This is prohibited by law (§ 11 (3) of the Forest Act for the Free State of Saxony).

Firewood licencesfrom the district forester: Citizens who would like to use the environmentally friendly fuel wood have the opportunity to purchase firewood licences from the district forester again this year - consultation hours are Mondays from 4 to 6 pm in the office building at Annaberger Straße 89, room 63 (PM 6t47 from 04.10.2013). Firewood licences for the residual wood on the area are only sold when the raw wood ready for sale has been stacked on the forest road. The maximum quantity per licence is 5 m³; the licence is valid for one week. Please note: With the start of the breeding season for forest birds (beginning of March), no firewood licences will be issued until September 2014.

Contact for citizens: For further information and questions about current forestry work in the Chemnitz municipal forests, please contact the Green Spaces Office by e-mail at gruenflaechenamt(at)stadt-chemnitz.de or call 0371/488-6755.