Austria is planting Lebanon cedars to save its drought-damaged forests

Austria is testing a drought-resistant tree that could help save its forests from heat and bark beetles. The Lebanon cedar, native to Türkiye and Lebanon, is already showing promising results at multiple test sites across the country. 

"They have a deep taproot which can take water under harsh summer conditions," project leader Raphael Klumpp tells CGTN while visiting his test site Bruckneudorf, a military training ground east of Vienna. More resilient to heatwaves than native species, the cedar could be crucial in saving the country's forests amid a warming climate.

Klumpp has teamed up with the Austrian Armed Forces – because protecting the country's forests is increasingly becoming a question of national security.

"On the one hand, ash trees are declining; on the other, bark beetles are destroying spruce," says Markus Ziegler, Commander of the Bruckneudorf military site.

"If heat continues to damage other tree species, we risk becoming a steppe landscape. We must prevent that and preserve our forests. These research findings are intended to help us do exactly that."

Adapting to survive

Introducing new tree species could be crucial for Austria's forests. For centuries, the Alpine country has relied heavily on one tree: the spruce. 

But rising temperatures and increasing periods of drought are weakening these monocultures – creating ideal conditions for bark beetles that can destroy entire stands of trees.

In recent years, bark beetles have cleared entire mountainsides, leaving three million cubic meters of damaged wood last year alone.     

Klumpp, from Vienna's BOKU university, has already planted thousands of Lebanon cedars across four international test sites – with promising results.

"Whatever we plant today, it will be harvested 60 years later," he says. "With Lebanon cedar, I have a certain probability that these trees will survive these 60 years. If I plant a native pine species I don't have that guarantee."

But cedars need light and slightly loamy soils, making them unsuitable for heavy soil types in the Alpine range, Klumpp says. 

"It cannot grow in every place in Austria. It is restricted to certain situations, certain site conditions... but in those places it will be very helpful."

If cedars eventually make up 5% of Austria's low-lying forests, they could help these areas adapt to a warmer climate.