Danish forest rangers are ditching chainsaws for dynamite, with biologists looking at new ways to protect biodiversity and promote conservation.
“Here, you won’t have trees cut with a chainsaw,” said Jes Aagaard, a biologist and nature guide at the Danish Nature Agency, involved in the controlled exclusion in Copenhagen. “Instead, we put some dynamite in some small holes and detonate it to reenact a lightning strike.”
“And what we have left now is this torso of the stem standing up, and that is going to be a hotel of biodiversity for the next 20-30 years or so, and there will be bats, there will be insects, there will be mushrooms or whatever, who all like to eat this dead or dying wood that is left over.”
According to Mr Aagaard, the ‘clear cut’ left by the dynamite acts like a ‘clean strike’, far more natural than one made with a chainsaw. It encourages various species to use the beech trees and branches.
“It’s so much nicer to see a natural breakdown,” he said, “but most importantly, it helps in the long term as plants and wildlife can better use the fallen branches.”
“Standing dead or dying trees are a prime habitat for a wide range of insects, fungi and birds that find food and peck nest holes,” he said, with the remains acting like a “biodiversity hotel” for the oak deer – Europe’s largest beetle species.
