Belgian tree climbers seek climate resilience in pine cones

Perched atop a larch tree, Luca Bruscia, a sporty 25-year-old pruner, collects pine cones that Belgian authorities hope will help strengthen the country's forests in the face of a changing climate.

The cones' seeds will be planted in other woody corners of the European nation to boost tree diversity and resilience -- an effort that gained more urgency this year after Belgium was ravaged by its largest wildfire in a century.

"We used to see this kind of thing happen in southern Europe, and now it's happening here. It's quite striking," Bruscia's boss Adrien Baudoin said of fires and prolonged spells of dry weather.

"It's going to get worse and worse," he added. "We have no choice but to adapt."

Bruscia was one of four forestry workers taking part in the annual high-altitude cone harvest on a September morning in the Bois D'Hez woodland in Genappe south of Brussels.

It took the team a few attempts with a tool resembling a giant slingshot to secure throw-lines on high sturdy branches of several tall trees.

They then climbed up about 40 metres (130 feet) and spent a couple of hours on each tree, collecting several kilogrammes of cones in canvas bags.

The harvest is carried out from mid-August to mid-September, before the pine cones open up, releasing their seeds into the wind.

Once collected, the cones are handed to the forestry office of Marche-en-Famenne, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Genappe.

They are dried and then placed in a washing-machine-like spinner to extract the seeds.

- 'Long-term view' -

After meticulous sorting, checks and a spell in cold storage sometimes lasting years, the office sells them on for planting in Belgium's public and private forests.

A kilogramme -- equivalent to some 35,000 seeds -- costs about 3,400 euros ($3,900), with a germination rate of up to 50 percent.

"The forest of the future will be highly diverse," said the office's head Eleonore Scholzen, whose goal is to prepare local woods for the next 200 years.

With global warming "we need to take a very long-term view" she said.

Dominated by spruce trees, Belgian forests have suffered as the lack of arboreal diversity has caused soil acidification and left trees more vulnerable to insects, diseases and natural disasters.

With global warming bringing about more frequent and intense extreme weather events, Belgium's nature and forestry department is pushing for diversification.

From sycamores to maples, a variety of tree species, some once found mainly in southern Europe, are being planted around the country in the hope they will make local woods better equipped to withstand rising temperatures.

"Trees migrate naturally, but this migration is not fast enough to keep pace with climate change," said Scholzen, who was among the responders to the massive fire in the High Fens nature reserve in August, explaining the need for a human boost.