2022 was not a good year for forests in East Tyrol and Upper Carinthia: in the most severely affected districts of Lienz and Spittal an der Drau, very large quantities of damaged timber resulted from bark beetle infestations. Across Austria, volumes in 2022 nearly doubled compared to the previous year. Wind damage also increased significantly again, which could be a driver for further bark beetle mass outbreaks.

According to the documentation of forest damage factors (DWF), bark beetle damage in 2022 amounted to 3.75 million solid cubic metres (up 90% on the previous year), the third-highest figure ever recorded in Austria. The focus of damage was south of the main Alpine ridge: the largest increase, six times the volume compared to the previous year, was again recorded in Tyrol (1.28 million solid cubic metres), with the vast majority of damage occurring in East Tyrol. In the Lienz district, the volume of damaged timber was even ten times higher (1.13 million solid cubic metres). In Carinthia, the volume of beetle-damaged timber doubled to 763,000 solid cubic metres, with the Spittal an der Drau district at the centre, recording a sixfold increase in damage (400,000 solid cubic metres).

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