Forests for People

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by the Federal Government in September 2011, just in time for

International Year of Forests, 2011. Its main aims are to forge a

new balance between the diverse demands on and capabilities of

forests and to pursue the multifunctionality objective for German

forests, while maintaining and enhancing conditions for non-state

forest owners to manage forests profitably. Where forest utilization

is concerned, the aim is to strike a balance between CO

sequestra-

tion within forests on the one hand and timber use on the other.

For German forests, this means maintaining the present utiliza-

tion rate without striving to increase it much further. Instead, an

increase in the efficiency of wood and energy use, ideally in line with

cascade use, is gaining more and more importance. Where it relates

to forests, the National Forestry Strategy 2020 will complement the

existing National Biodiversity Strategy.

As Germany is a federal republic, responsibility for the forests

lies mainly with the regions. Steps to implement the new strategy

must therefore be discussed with the German

Länder

. The Federal

Government can set the legal framework and offer incentives,

such as promotional measures. It was in this context that the

decision was taken in 2011 to introduce a new forest climate fund

from 2013. Among other things, this fund will aim to promote

measures to increase the resistance of forests to climate change

and related natural disasters. It will also promote measures to

improve the contributions of forests and timber to combating

climate change.

Germany has been an active partner in most of the global

debates and initiatives to conserve and sustainably manage forests.

Its objective in the field of international forest policy is to ensure

that the multiple contributions of forests to food secu-

rity, the alleviation of poverty and the protection of

rural livelihoods, as well as to environmental conser-

vation, climate protection and a green economy,

are more widely acknowledged at all levels. Forests

should also be safeguarded and fostered through

sustainable forest management, which takes all the

existing and potential products and services provided

by forests into account. To this end, an effective coor-

dination of the diverse international efforts to control

deforestation and forest degradation and to promote

sustainable forest management is required to enhance

their impact. Apart from measures abroad, Germany

also actively supports the activities and legislation of

the EU against trade with and consumption of timber

from illegal sources. A national procurement policy

that promotes timber from sustainably managed

forests and an initiative to develop a fingerprinting

methodology for timber to identify timber species and

origins at customs points are among the support meas-

ures implemented.

Forest are a genuine treasure. All efforts need to be

done to maintain them in their substance and beauty.

Forests 2011 offers an extraordinary platform to

communicate this message to a wider audience. The

300th anniversary of Carlowitz’s striking idea of sustain-

able forest management in 2013 will show whether we

have understood this message.

Timber as a source of energy is enjoying an unexpected revival

A national procurement policy promotes timber from sustainably

managed forests

Image: Michael Reitz 2011 / www.kunstingenieure.de