The storm which battered the country on July 12 and 13 has caused damage by windthrow in combination with waterlogging in 13 of the 14 forest administration districts of Slovenia. The biggest damage was recorded in the north and northeast of the country. Only the forest disrict of Krasko south of Trieste, which was affected by a wildfire last year, was not hit by the storm.
According to an estimate by the ZGS, the forest administration district of Bled in the east of the Triglav National Park was worst affected with 171,000 m³ of damaged wood. It is followed by the forest districts of Slovenj Gradec with 121,000 m³, Maribor with 60,000 m³ as well as Tolmin in the west near the Italian region Friuli with 53,000 m³ and Murska Sobota close to the southeast of Styria. In these regions, windthrow affected not only smaller groups of trees but destroyed entire forest stands as well. In other regions, such as in Novo mesto (31,000 m³) or Kranj (30,000 m³), the storm mostly caused the windthrow of individual and smaller groups of trees along the edges of forests and infrastructure.
In most cases, trees were uprooted and trunks were snapped. The windthrow event in mid-July uprooted both coniferous and deciduous trees, with spruce trees being damaged the most, as the ZGS reports.
The bark beetle is said to be a particularly serious problem since 400,000 to 500,000 m³ of beetle-damaged wood are to be harvested in the coming weeks. By July 20, more than 60,000 m³ have already been processed and removed.
