Greeting to "The Lößnitzgrund calls 2025"

Dear nature-loving people of Radebeul,

In the run-up to the appointment with the Landesbühnen Sachsen and the regional players in the »The Lößnitzgrund is calling« format, I asked myself how the cultural sector and forestry go together.
Can interesting connections be found? After a brief consideration, I was absolutely convinced and am now very happy to take on the patronage of this event for the second year in a row.

The wonderful cultural landscape in the garden city of Radebeul, the Elbe floodplain, the vineyards and the near-natural wooded valleys are not just a wonderful backdrop for tourists
or calendar pages - our home landscape is evidence of centuries of utilisation, of the cultural and historical achievements of generations of farmers, gardeners, winegrowers, town planners and foresters.

However, if we look at our forest in the »last seasons«, I can unfortunately only tell you about absolutely turbulent times: Dry years, bark beetle plagues, forest fires, African swine fever, insect mortality and quantities of damaged timber at historically unprecedented levels have unfortunately become part of our daily business. Our forestry scientists are trying to find reliable answers to these huge and diverse challenges.
At the same time, fortunately, more and more people are taking an interest in the forest, using it for recreation, sport and many, many other leisure activities. Nature and species conservationists, local historians, hunters, craftsmen, the timber industry, monument conservationists, neighbouring landowners - they all have legitimate interests in the forest. How do we combine all these
harmonise these different social interests? We foresters are not the only ones who ask ourselves this question every day.

Let us retain an interest in our natural environment. Let's change our perspective, pay attention to details along the way and respect our companions.
I wish all guests and participants a fulfilling day with new discoveries of the local fauna, enjoyment of the cultural programme of the participating institutions and associations and the get-together. I would like to thank all those involved for their commitment in preparing
preparation and realisation of this day.

I look forward to talking to you and will be happy to answer your questions and discuss your thoughts on the forest

Thomas Nikol, District Manager Sachsenforst