"Zugpferd Naturpark" (2021)

With horsepower to gentle forest management

To strengthen our forest areas in the long term, management in future will be carried out on only small areas, in a way that is gentle on the soil, with as little compaction of the subsoil as possible, and increasingly through single-tree logging.

As an alternative to heavy forestry machinery, in autumn 2021 the nature park has deployed Johannes Stippich's powerful two Noriker horses, Max & Nero, to recover logs from the often steep terrain. 

We have also involved the local population:

On Friday, 8 October, almost 70 students from Purkersdorf schools took part in the woodwork with horses. The children were not only able to marvel at and even stroke the clever horses, but also try out working with them.

On Saturday, 9 October, visitors were able to follow the work in small groups throughout the day. At the end of the day, all logs had been transported gently out of the forest without causing damages to soil and the remaining vegetation, ready for collection at the entrance to the nature park centre.

We have compiled a video of the two project days and documented the options for future use of this sustainable and traditional forest management method.

The project was supported by the NÖ Landschaftsfonds.