Umwandlungs- und Aufforstungsmassnahmen in vernachlässigten Kastanien-Stockausschlagwäldern im Tessin – Aufwendungen und Kosten | Transformation and afforestation measures in neglected chestnut coppice stands in the canton of Tessin – expenditures and costs

The attack of the chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) on chestnut coppice stands on the southern side of the Swiss Alps started to take on epidemic proportions in 1948. At the time,catastrophic experiences in America raised fears that it would lead to the total destruction of the chestnut. In consequence a wide-ranging transformation programme was initiated in the canton of Tessin. For want of relevant practical experience all promising species were planted using the then existing planting and silvicultural techniques for systematic, high-quality wood production. However, the existing infrastructure did not allow for a detailed control of expenditure for the measures taken. Starting in 1973, within a teaching-forest project, the Institute of silviculture of the ETH Zurich made control possible. In this report we present and analyse the measures applied to 17 parcels of land, nine of which were transformed and eight afforested. From today’s point of view the total cost was disproportionately high, sometimes more than 1500 hours per hectare in the first 15 to 20 years. Taking developments in wood prices and forest management costs since then into consideration we conclude that indiscriminate planting is not to be recommended, especially in view of the fact that the chestnut blight turned out to be relatively harmless thanks to the phenomenon of «hypo-virulence». Finally, we discuss alternative silvicultural measures for chestnut coppice stands.