Improving forest resilience of Fischauer Vorbergennn

The project aims to improve forest resilience in the municipalities of Bad Fischau-Brunn and Willendorf. The Fischauer Vorberge hills lie south of Vienna and are characterised by black pine forests, which are coming under increasing pressure from climate change and pest infestations. The forests border residential areas and are subject to a variety of ownership structures and land-use patterns. The project aims to develop a strategy to improve forest resilience and preserve forest ecosystem services in the municipalities. It involves assessing the current state of the forests, analysing climatic and site-specific conditions, evaluating forest ecosystem services, and identifying forest fire risk hotspots. A key component is the participatory involvement of stakeholders (forest owners, hunters, residents living near forests, public institutions) to identify their goals and expectations through workshops. Based on the results, management plans will be developed that include sustainable measures to improve forest health and reduce forest disturbances, particularly forest fires. The aim is to promote biodiversity and safeguard forest ecosystem services in the long term. The results will be compiled in the form of management plans and recommendations for action, with the involvement of the research activities of students’s.