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INTERFORST 2018 is backed , at least indirectly , by an industry with considerable economic strength . In nearly 128,000 companies of the forestry and wood cluster , more than 1.1 employees generate annual sales of approximately 180 billion euros . Thus , more people are working in this sector than for example in the mechanical engineering and plant manufacturing sectors or in the automotive industry , as the Federation of German Forest Owners Associations [ Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Waldbesitzer , AGDW 2018 ] and the German Forestry Council [ Deutscher Forstwirtschaftsrat , DFWR 2018 ] emphasize .
The forestry and wood cluster includes the following economic sectors : the forestry sector , the woodworking industry , the wood processing industry , wood processing in the building industry , the paper industry , the publishing and printing sector as well as the timber business . Even though the forestry sector , with shares of two percent in sales and eight percent in the number of employees , only plays a subordinate role , it forms the basis of the wood processing chain and its economic output due to sustainable forest management .
Great significance for rural areas “ Particularly in rural areas , many workplaces depend directly or indirectly on the forest sector and the forest-based industries . They have a great economic importance here . Thus , this economic sector provides an income to approximately two million forest owners . Many companies from the forest-based industries have their location entirely or partially in rural areas ”, states c Globalization has brought about an enormous boom for the forestry sector and the forest-based industries in the last few years , partly because of the increasing scarcity of fossil resources ( cluster analysis , NW- FVA 2007 ). “ In this context , our forest owners , who are cultivating their forests in a sustainable and forward-looking manner , supply wood as a climate-neutral raw material . The used wood removes carbon from the atmosphere
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and binds it in wood products . In addition , it replaces energyintensive substances , such as concrete , steel or oil ”, Georg Schirmbeck goes on to say .
48 percent of the forest is privately owned One third of Germany , namely 11.4 million hectares in total , is covered by forests . The basis for the high benefit of the forestry and wood cluster are sustainably cultivated forests . According to information provided by the Federal Statistical Office , there were 29,408 forestry operations in total in 2016 . They cultivated a forest area ( including short rotational plantations ) covering 7,155,201 ha . A large part of the forest belongs to private forest owners ( 48 percent ). Fifty percent of the private forest account for what is referred to as private micro forests , i . e . forests smaller than 20 hectares in size . To be able to ensure sustainable forest management in spite of this unfavorable ownership structure , approximately 430,000 forest owners have organized themselves in some 3,600 forestry cooperatives .
Sustainable exploitation — timber reserves are steadily increasing Another 19 percent of the German forest area are part of the municipal and corporate forests . The rest of the forest area is broken down into the state-forest of the federal states ( 29 percent ) and the federal government ( 4 percent ). German forestry is considered as the cradle of sustainability , and the present generations profit from the fact that felling does not outpace growth in Germany ’ s forests . Approximately 122 million cubic meters of wood is growing in the forests annually ; 7.0 cubic meter per hectare and year , or 76 million cubic meter of raw wood ( cubic meters of harvested wood ), are harvested annually throughout Germany , sometimes slightly more , sometimes less , but always below the forest growth rate . As a result , the timber reserves are steadily increasing .
Wood as an energy carrier Increasing energy consumption with simultaneous shortages
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of fossil resources and anthropogenic climate change are the great challenges of today . In this connection , wood as a renewable resource is of particular importance . By reducing the energy consumption for the fabrication of timber construction products alone , almost twice as many emissions than by the substitution of fossil fuels by wood as an energy carrier could be saved in Germany in the last few years . In addition , there is the immense effect of the domestic forestry and wood sector as a huge carbon pool . ( RÜTER , Thünen-Institut 2016 )
More timber reserves than Sweden and Finland Thanks to the foresighted work of several generations of forest owners and foresters , timber reserves in Germany are high and even continue to increase ( Forest Report of the Federal Government Federal Ministry of Food and Agricultures ( BMEL ) 2017 ). By means of a comparison , the high level of the reserves becomes particularly clear : actually , Germany has larger timber reserves than , for example , Sweden and Finland with their seemingly endless forests ( AGDW 2018 ). Therefore , most of the German need for wood can be covered from its own forestry sector ; however , Germany has been a net importer of ( coniferous ) raw wood since 2009 . At the same time , Germany remains the largest exporter ( predominantly to other EU countries ) of timber and timberbased products , preceded by China and the USA . ( Forest Report of the Federal Government Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture ( BMEL ) 2017 ).
Revenues from the sale of wood The main product for the revenues of German forest operations still is raw wood . Its share in the value of the products originating from forestry accounts for more than 90 percent . In 2016 , for example , 52 million cubic meters were logged ( calculated without bark ). Of this amount , 9.4 million cubic meters were used for energetic purposes , slightly above one million more than ten years ago
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Georg Schirmbeck , President of the DFWR .
( Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture BMEL 2018 ). Even if the focus is meanwhile shifting for several forest owners , especially for those from urban areas , who consider nature conservation as a primary objective rather than the generation of revenues from the forest , the revenues generated from the sale of timber remain decisive .
The forest as a workplace Due to their forestry activities , private forest businesses as well as municipal and state-owned state forestry enterprises are employers for many other specialists and suppliers . There are more than 3000 forestry enterprises in Germany ; their employees plant trees for the forest owners , care for their forest resources and finally harvest the wood , move it out of the forest and ensure its transportation . Despite all mechanization and digitization , forestry work still is one of the most dangerous and accidentprone activities of all . Safety at work and occupation-specific health risks will play an important role at Interforst 2018 , too . Likewise , high-quality equipment and advanced procedures will be on display at the show . In addition , leading organizations and associations of the forestry and wood cluster will present the latest figures and topical research results , and will discuss the most important topics from the spheres of politics and business . The complete range of the German and the international forest sectors and forest-based industries will present itself at Interforst .
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