Belgium harvests pine cones for climate-ready forests

Belgian forestry workers are harvesting pine cones to collect seeds that authorities hope will make the country's forests more diverse and resilient as the climate changes.

The annual high-altitude harvest runs from mid-August to mid-September, before the cones open and release their seeds. In the Bois D'Hez woodland in Genappe, south of Brussels, workers climbed about 40 metres and collected several kilogrammes of cones in canvas bags.

The cones are sent to the forestry office in Marche-en-Famenne, where they are dried and spun to extract the seeds. After sorting, checks and cold storage, the office sells the seeds for planting in public and private forests.

Eleonore Scholzen, head of the office, said the aim is to prepare local woods for the next 200 years. She said trees migrate naturally but not quickly enough to keep pace with climate change.

Belgian forests are dominated by spruce trees and have suffered from limited tree diversity, which has contributed to soil acidification and left trees more vulnerable to insects, diseases and natural disasters.

Belgium's nature and forestry department is encouraging diversification as global warming brings more frequent and intense extreme weather. Species including sycamores and maples are being planted around the country in the hope that forests will better withstand rising temperatures.

The work has gained urgency after Belgium's largest wildfire in a century, in the High Fens nature reserve in August.