ANNALS OF AGRARIAN SCIENCE, vol. 9, no.2, 2011 ИЗВЕСТИЯ АГРАРНОЙ НАУКИ, Том 9, Ном. 2, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HISTORY OF SCIENCE ИСТОРИЯ НАУКИ 200 YEARS DDEPARTMENTEPARTMENT OF FOREST SCIENCES IN THARANDT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATURE CONSERVATION IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH Peter A. Schmidt Dresden University of Technology, Department of Forest Sciences 7 Pienner str., Tharandt, 01737 Germany; [email protected] Received: 02.09.10; accepted: 22.11.10 Starting with the history of the Royal Saxon Forest Academy in Tharandt since 1811 the development of the present Department of Forest Sciences of the Dresden University of Technology is shortly outlined. Special attention is drawn to the field of nature conservation in teaching and research from the beginning in the 19 th century up to selected activities of the present time. Currently many institutes teach environmental subjects and carry out investigations in environmental management and nature conservation. The Professorship of Land Improvement and Nature Conservation is in the focus of the paper, because several projects were performed in the Caucasus Region. ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREST SCIENCES The Department of Forest Sciences in Tharandt belongs to the Dresden University of Technology, Faculty of Forest, Geo and Hydro Sciences. Beside the Forest Technical Academy St. Petersburg (Russia) it is the oldest institution for academic teaching in forestry worldwide. In 2011 the Department of Forest Sciences is celebrating the 200 anniversary, i.e. 200 years of academic education and research in Tharandt. The program is following the motto “200 Years Ideas for the Future” and includes scientific conferences as well as other highlights during the whole year. The today’s Department of Forest Sciences was founded in 1811 as a private forest college by the famous forester Heinrich Cotta (1763-1844), often called one of the “Fathers of Forest Sciences”. Cotta was since 1809 the director of the Saxon Forest Surveying Establishment. He was permitted to continue his private forestry teaching institute which was founded in 1786 in Thuringia. Financial difficulties because of the liberation wars endangered the further existence of his institute. Since the Saxon state was interested in qualified forest specialists, it was transferred into state authority. The Royal Saxon Forest Academy (Koeniglich-Saechsische Forstakademie Tharandt) was founded in 1816. Cotta was appointed as the director and held this office until his death in 1844. At first the study lasted two years, and since 1830 three years were required for the higher careers in forest services. The curriculum comprised lectures on mathematics and natural sciences, silviculture, forest management planning, forest protection, forest utilization and wildlife management, but also exercises, practical instructions in the forest and field trips. In 1830 an agricultural department was founded, and the institution was called Royal Saxon Academy for Foresters and Agriculturists, but only up to 1869, when this department was transferred to the Leipzig University. In 1904 the Royal Saxon Forest Academy was awarded the status of a Forest College (Forstliche Hochschule Tharandt) with the right for postdoctoral lecturing qualifications (habilitation). In 1929 it became a department of the Dresden College of Technology (Technische Hochschule Dresden), but with a certain independence being kept on. Only in 1941 it became one of the faculties, the Faculty of Forestry. Already since the 19 th century Tharandt has attracted foreign students (1479 from 1816 to 1945, not only from other German countries, but from all over the world (Europe, Japan, China, India), among them one student of Georgia (1920- 1923 Nikolay Pirzchalaischwili from Kutaisi). Many outstanding personalities and scientists taught and worked in Tharandt, only some of them can be mentioned here. In the the 19 th century besides H. Cotta (taught the main subjects of forestry) the professors K.L. Krutzsch (general nature sciences), A.E. Rossmaessler and M. Willkomm (zoology and botany), J.A. Stoeckhardt (agrochemistry, research in effects of air pollution on forests), M.R. Pressler (mathematics, developed soil rent theory and measuring instruments for mensuration of trees and stands, e. g. the increment borer, called in may languages Pressler borer), J.F. Judeich (forest management planning) and F. Nobbe (botany, development of seed control in Germany, first seed testing station of the world) shall be mentioned. In the first half of the 20 th century among others the professors H.H. Vater (founder of forest site ecology), K. Rubner (silviculture, in a book of him and F. Reinhold the forest regions of Europe are described, among them the Caucasus Region, [1]), F.W. Neger and E. Münch (botany, research in plant pathology and physiology), F. Heske (forest management planning, founded the Institute of Foreign and Colonial Forestry, which was transferred in 1940 from Tharandt to Hamburg), R. Hugershoff (mathematics and surveying sciences, founder of the forest photogrammetry) and H. Prell (zoology, introduced the regular pest registration service in forest protection) went down in the annals of Tharandt history. After the 2 nd World War the professors H. Prell, H.F. Sachsse (soil science) and H. Wienhaus (phytochemistry) as well as the two representatives of the Soviet Military Administration Dashkevich and Malinovski (educated foresters and well acquainted with the Tharandt tradition) prevented the intended disintegration of the Forest Faculty. In 1946 the faculty was reopened as one of the first three faculties of the Dresden College of Technology. Since 1961 foreigners again were educated at the Forest Faculty. The Dresden College in 1961 was conferred upon the status of a university (Dresden University of Technology) with nine faculties, one of them the Faculty of Forestry in Tharandt. In 1968 the faculty was transformed into the Department of Forestry, which was allocated to the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Water Management and Forestry. The political turn in 1989 and the following time, but also the increasing significance of the environmental topics in education and research caused changes in the structure of the faculties of the Dresden University [2,3]. The Faculty of Forest, Geo and Hydro Sciences as a complex faculty of environmental sciences was founded in 1994. At present the new Department of Forest Sciences of this faculty comprises nine institutes with the Institute of General Ecology and Environmental Protection having been founded only in 1992: - Institute of Forest Botany and Forest Zoology, - Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology (Soil Science and Soil Protection, Site Ecology and Plant Nutrition), - Institute of Plant and Wood Chemistry (Phytochemistry and Pulp Technology), - Institute of Forest Economics and Forest Management Planning (incl. Forest Policy and Forest Resources Economics), - Institute of Forest Growth and Forest Computer Sciences (Forest Growth and Forest Mensuration, Forest Biometrics and Forest Systems Analysis). - Institute of Forest Utilization and Forest Technology, - Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products (Tropical Forestry, Forestry and Forest Products of Eastern Europe), - Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection (incl. Wildlife Ecology and Management), - Institute of General Ecology and Environmental Protection (General Ecology, Land Improvement and Nature Conservation). A new lecture and laboratory building (“Judeich- Bau”), was inaugurated in 2000. In 2002 during a catastrophic flooding in the valley of the river Wilde Weisseritz where the campus is situated, a considerable part of the infrastructure was destroyed. After that a modern building (“Rossmaessler-Bau”) for the library (State and University Library Dresden, Tharandt branch) and canteen was constructed and other buildings (“Cotta- Bau”, “Stoeckhardt- Bau”) were renovated and modernized. In 2011 the Tharandt Botanic Garden and Arboretum also is celebrating 200 years of academic education and research. A Forest-Botanical Garden was founded in 1811 by H. Cotta and J.A. Reum. It is the oldest among the arboreta affiliated with Forest institutions worldwide. Because of its comprehensive stock of woody plants (about 3000 taxa and cultivars) the Botanic Garden and Arboretum is of basic significance for teaching (study courses Forest Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Spatial Planning and Natural Resources Management etc.), research (e.g. botany, site ecology, climate tolerance, growth behaviour, pathology, species protection), public education (among others since 1997 a special Environmental Interpretation Programme for children and young people) and recreation. In the geographic quarters of Caucasus plants species as Fagus orientalis, Picea orientalis, Abies nordmanniana, Vaccinium arctostaphylos, Rhododendron caucasicum, R. ponticum, R. smirnowii, R. luteum or Buxus colchica are cultivated. The Tharandt Botanic Garden and Arboretum is member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Over the about 200 years of its changeful history the forest sciences at Tharandt have gained worldwide reputation. Also today, sustained efforts are needed to secure and to further develop the ”academic place Tharandt” with its high-level educational and research standing. The introduction of several bachelor (BSc) and master (MSc) programs in forest and