Volunteers remove spruce trees to climate-proof Salzburg pastures

Volunteers are removing spruce trees from an alpine pasture in Maria Alm in Salzburg’s Pinzgau region to protect water supplies and prepare the grazing land for changing climate conditions, ORF reported.

At the Oberhochreit Alm, a pasture at an elevation of 1,800 metres, the volunteers are working on a steep slope. The spruces are being removed so that larches receive more light and water. The team is also clearing the grazing areas of bushes and young trees.

The volunteers are spending a week at the pasture in exchange for food and accommodation. Karl Ehrlenbach said the work was a way to give something back to nature and would also help preserve grazing for the future.

The clearing of bushes, shrubs and young trees from alpine grazing land is known as “Schwenden” and is an important form of landscape management. The aim is to keep the pasture usable for future generations, said owner Dominik Widauer.

Spruces have shallow roots and take comparatively large amounts of water from the soil, making them more vulnerable to being blown down by wind. Larches have deeper roots and can stabilise the soil more effectively. Larches and Swiss stone pines are due to be planted next year.

Interest in volunteer work on such projects is growing, according to ORF. All seven places for the week-long assignment at Oberhochreit Alm were filled on the first day.