Michael Kuhrn

Lower Austria

Together with his son, Michael Kuhrn manages 90 hectares of forestry, arable farming and grassland on the family farm. Michael Kuhrn is a biodiversity mediator at ‘Vielfalt am Betrieb’.


Commitment to biodiversity:

Michael Kuhrn manages his forest as a near-natural plenter forest with several stages and no clear-cutting. He favours tree species diversity and promotes rare tree species and shrubs such as the wild service tree or the wayfaring tree. The planting of fruit-bearing shrubs such as black walnut or cornel cherry at the edge of the forest or along forest roads for birds and game is as natural to him as leaving dead wood standing. He and his son cultivate mixed crops on the farm's fields, which are grassed all year round, and when growing catch crops, they ensure a wide variety of species. Boundary ridges, hedges and rows of trees provide structural diversity in the fields. Michael Kuhrn utilises his meadows in stages. He is also active as a biodiversity mediator for the ÖKL (Austrian Board of Trustees for Agricultural Technology and Land Development).

Nominated by:

Kornelia Zipper, ÖKL