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INTERNATIONAL DESK
Germany's
Forests
·
AreDying
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Nuremberg
t has been said that Indians
worship their cows and Germans worship
their trees. India's cows can often be seen
wandering the streets of Madras, Calcutta
and Bombay-sad, often half-st arved
creatures struggling to survive in an
unnatural and unhealthy environment. They
may be in better condition than Germany's
trees!
The German people have an almost mystical
relationship with their forests. Three quarters of
Bud damaged by acid
rain. Polluted water from
melting snow
collects in the tips of
the branches.
the population of this densely populated country visit
the forest at least once a month. Twenty-five percent
of West Germany's area is still covered with trees,
and the forests are a traditional refuge from the
stress of city Jife. But the forests may not be for
much longer, it seems.
Germany's trees are dying at an alarming rate. The
damage was noticed in the Black Forest in the early
1960s when diseased fi r trees were found.
It
was not
taken seriously at first, but by the late 1970s, the
January
1986
condition of the fir trees gave cause for serious
concern. Now, the problem has grown to crisis
proportions. Sorne experts studying the situation say
that already one third of the trees have died and half
of those left may be terminally ill. They have warned
that unless drastic action is taken immediately, large
tracts of forestland may be reduced to barren waste
by the turn of the century. Germany is on the edge
of an ecological d isaster.
The German people are concerned, for
Waldsterben-the
death of the trees-will affect
every inhabitant of this nation.
Why
Waldsterben ?
Why are the t rees dying?
Exhaust from automobiles is certainly part of the
problem.
It
does not take an expert to see that many
trees lining the autobahns are in poor condition.
These magni ficent roads linking German cities are
the only ones in Europe to have no speed limit, and
West German d rivers jealously guard their right to
be able to ride in their BMWs and Mercedes at 100
miles an hour or more. An autobahn speed
limit- like gun control in the United States- is an
emotional issue-a symbol of individual fre.edom.
After all, in the neighboring German Democratic
Republic, drivers must plod along at a sedate 60
miles an hour.
Reducing speed on the autobahns could reduce
toxic emissions by 18 percent and give the dying
trees a chance.
It
is not an easy choice for the West
Germans.
But damage is not limited to Jowland trees along
the autobahns. Many damaged trees have been found
at the 10,000-foot Jevel, in remote reaches of forest
far away from the center of pollution. The much
publicized but little understood acid rain may be a
contributing culprit here. The exact relationship
between man-made pollutants, acid rain and
The bark of this
fir tree has been seriously
damaged by
long-range effects of
pollution.
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