Forests provide a range of different kinds of added value thanks to sustainable forestry

Forests in Germany are tended and used sustainably. Sustainability in forest management includes all services provided by forests and functions performed by forests. Above all, it is ensured that less timber is harvested than grows back. Our forests also provide jobs and income for around 1 million people, above all in rural regions. At the same time, forests are home to many protected animals and plants. Forests protect against floods and clean the water. They are natural air conditioners, air purifiers and places of rest and recreation.

Climate change mitigation effects of forests and timber

Forests and the use of timber from sustainable forestry management are good for the climate. Germany’s woods currently bind 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon in biomass, deadwood and soil. Between 2012 and 2017, forests in Germany continued to grow and thus functioned as carbon sinks. The average annual contribution of German forests since 2012 amounts to 62 million tonnes of CO₂. The annual carbon storage effect produced by the forests is currently 40.2 million tonnes of CO₂, and that of the wood and wood-based products used for material purposes is 4.0 million tonnes of CO₂.

Forest management and the use of timber thus improve Germany’s greenhouse gas balance by up to 7 percent. In addition, forests make a significant contribution towards a balanced local climate, e.g. through landscape cooling during heatwaves.

Wood replaces energy-intensive products

Forests and timber reinforced positive impacts on the climate. In functional comparison with more emission-intensive material, the use of timber can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Often, significantly less energy is needed to produce wood-based products (for instance furniture or building components) than to produce comparable products from other materials.

Wood is Germany’s most important renewable raw material. Wood can already replace energy-intensive, finite materials and oil-based, fossil resources on a large scale – for instance in construction, in day-to-day life and in completely new applications. The climate impact of forests and wood shows that the use of more timber from sustainable forestry represents an active contribution to climate change mitigation and to the conservation of finite resources in all cases.

Sustainable forestry integrates nature conservation

Sustainable forest management also includes the conservation of biodiversity. German forests are well-positioned in this area. The “species diversity and landscape quality” indicator in the National Biodiversity Strategy shows an 87 percent target achievement level for forests, which is the highest value of all sub-indicators. This is one of the major achievements of sustainable forest management.
Nonetheless, the aim is to further improve the current situation, especially for specific forest biotopes – and to do more, in particular for species dependent on micro habitats on big, old trees and dead wood (such as bats and numerous insect and fungus species); since many external factors are putting a strain on biological diversity. These factors include, for instance, substance inputs, climate change, invasive alien species or isolation due to an ever increasing number of streets, pipeline routes and wind turbines.

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) therefore supports integrative approaches for the protection of biological diversity in forests in Germany and Europe. These include, for instance, the following measures:

• Within the scope of INTEGRATE, the Europe-wide forest conservation network, the BMEL participates in the spread and further development of intelligent approaches for the economically and ecologically optimised preservation and promotion of specific habitats in all types of forests in the context of sustainable forest management. Micro habitats on individual trees, such as bark damage, tree hollows or dead branches, play a major role in the assessment of forest tending and wood harvesting measures. More than 220 forest areas have now been chosen from across Europe (more than 70 of which are located in Germany) as teaching and demonstration sites with scientific and digital support. At these sites, environmental experts, forest experts, forest owners, students and the interested public can meet and learn from one another – based on specific facts and, above all, hands-on experience in the forest. A first nationwide INTEGRATE conference was organised in Fulda at the beginning of 2024, with the aim of expanding the network’s forest conservation potential.
• The measures supported under the Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection (GAK) include schemes for near-natural forest conversion. The Federal Government and the Länder jointly invested an average of around 29 million euros between 2020 and 2022. The stability of forests is being increased by converting large pure stands of coniferous trees to multi-level, structurally diverse mixed stands of deciduous and coniferous tree species. Site-adapted mixed stands are also best suited to cope with climate change.
• In November 2022, the BMEL introduced long-term funding to finance additional climate action and biodiversity services through the Funding Scheme for Climate-Adapted Forest Management (KWM). Through this programme, private and municipal forest owners, including forestry units, can receive funding if they commit themselves to complying with forestry management standards even higher than those prescribed by law to further strengthen the climate resilience of their forests.
• The Forest Climate Fund (WKF) provides funding for research, development, pilot and communication projects in the area of the maintenance and improvement of forest climate services and the adaptation of forests to climate change. The WKF funding guidelines expired on 31 December 2022. The WKF was discontinued under the 2024 budget; on-going projects will be financed until completed, but new projects are no longer possible.

Released 28. Jul 2024 as article