Sorrowful prediction: Pines to disappear from Hungary

According to a WWF programme manager, a significant proportion of pines and pine forests will disappear, radically transforming Hungary’s forests. Pines have been languishing for years, living under climate stress in large parts of Europe – including Hungary.

Spruce to disappear from Hungary with time

As InfoStart writes, pines have been under climate stress for many years in large parts of Europe. According to Dr László Gálhidy, increasingly hot and dry summers, storms with extreme weather and the emergence of insect pests not previously typical of the area are all contributing to the death of trees.

The head of WWF Hungary’s Forest Programme points out that in 2019, a tenth of the black pine (Pinus nigra) population was lost in one year. Similar trends can be observed in neighbouring countries. In Germany, more than 110,000 hectares of forest were lost in 2018: an area the size of Hamburg and Bremen combined.

Damage by climate change

The damage to trees is caused by drought, storms and bark beetle damage. It mainly affects spruce trees, as drought and lack of water mean that trees cannot produce enough resin to help them control pests, according to an interview with Dr Gálhidy, published on wmn.hu.

According to the expert, “many pine trees have been planted in places where they would not otherwise have been, and many forests that were previously mixed forests or beech forests have been planted with pine. And this has happened not only in Hungary but also in neighbouring countries”.

No spruce for Christmas, but fear not

According to Gálhidy, from a nature conservation point of view, it is important to restore the original vegetation cover in areas where the pines will soon disappear.

As for Christmas, he also has some bad news. Spruce “will have to go, but not all conifers will disappear from the country. There will be some that can adapt to the changed conditions and some that would have survived naturally in this area before”.

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