Emergency felling after pest infestation
Emergency felling after pest infestation
This image highlights the effects of a bark beetle infestation. Heavy-duty harvesting machinery was used to remove as many affected trees as possible. Clear-felling is used as a last resort to prevent bark beetles from spreading by depriving them of nourishment. Spruce trees, which were planted on a huge scale in Germany as a source of timber after World War II, are particularly vulnerable. The picture was taken in July 2025 in the woodlands of Schierke, near the town of Wernigerode in Germany's Harz Mountains, Saxony-Anhalt. In the background, parts of the Harz National Park are visible where, in the central zone, no forest management takes place and dead trees are left as 'snags'.
