Sustainability (forestry)

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Sustainability in forestry describes the forestry practice of sustainability , i.e. a principle of action for the use of resources , in which the preservation of the essential properties, the stability and the natural regenerative capacity of the forest is in the foreground. This forestry action principle was first for at the beginning of the 18th century as a result of excessive deforestation developing forestry formulated, but regional practiced for the same reason in the 15th century. It was also expanded in the 19th century beyond the pure supply of raw materials .

definition

Sustainable forestry means taking care of forest areas and their use in such a way and to an extent that they maintain or improve their productivity (including their soil-bearing capacity), their ability to regenerate and their vitality . At the same time, this is intended to preserve their ability to fulfill the ecological , economic and social functions of the forest at the local and national level , now and in the future . In addition, the sustainable management of a forest area should not harm other ecosystems .

The demand for “biological sustainability” in forest management is problematic, as it is fundamentally geared towards the extensive use of aboveground biomass (~ wood ). The permanent removal of the wood inevitably reduces the formation of new soil, which in turn is the primary guarantee for a healthy forest ecosystem.

In this respect, humans are also in competition with dead wood and decomposition organisms . These are dependent on the habitat niches left in the unused natural forest of the gradually dying and then decomposing dead wood mass and thus mark the main problem of species protection in the forest. Approx. 70% of all forest life forms are directly or indirectly dependent on it. In intensively managed forests , in order to preserve the habitats of deadwood dwellers, attention is increasingly paid to an appropriate proportion of standing and lying deadwood. The discussion between forestry and nature conservation about suitable concepts for creating a balance between the protection of species and habitats on the one hand and the profitable use of forests and supplying the population and the timber industry with the raw material wood is ongoing. Nonetheless, it represents the challenge of the future, as forestry is still the closest to solving the problem of biological sustainability. From an economic point of view, forestry is subject to tight limits in countries with high production costs. Compared to other economic sectors, forestry has a high capital tie-up and a low return on capital. It generates its added value from the standing stock of wood by harvesting and marketing the types and ranges of wood that achieve the highest possible price and invest as little labor as possible in the remaining areas. With more extensive economic concepts, goals of nature conservation can be integrated more easily (e.g. by leaving sufficient dead wood, setting up sufficiently large forest protection areas, structural diversity, permanent forest management over the entire area, gentle operating techniques, priority of natural regeneration, etc.).

Another important characteristic of sustainable forest culture ecosystems is their ability to be resilient . If a forest is extensively destroyed by biotic or abiotic factors, the work of generations of foresters is lost. Only with the replanting on the bare land does the forest ecosystem begin to form again very gradually. While age-class forests very often tend to catastrophic areas, i.e. show no resilience, permanent forests are highly resilient.

Definition of terms

In its origins, sustainability is a forestry term and is still of central importance here today. No other relevant branch of the economy has behaved in a similarly expedient manner with a view to the needs of coming generations over centuries with a changing zeitgeist. This is also reflected in today's self-image of forestry, but is also idealized in part.

The reasons for the high importance of forest sustainability are, on the one hand, the long regeneration times and low growth rates of forest stands, and, on the other hand, the excessive demand for wood in the past, which is explained in more detail below.

Since other branches of the economy do not think in terms of production periods of centuries, it is often seen there as economically irresponsible to behave “sustainably”. Due to its popularity, the term sustainability is often used as a marketing tool in other industries. However, the boundaries between sustainable and unsustainable economic practices are blurred. There are concepts and examples for sustainable development in almost all areas , which basically correspond to that of forestry. One example is sustainability in information technology .

History in Central Europe

In many regions of Central Europe , especially those with a pronounced mining and mining tradition, the capacities of the forests were already exceeded in the late Middle Ages and their limitations became clear. It was only from this context that the actual forestry developed regionally and replaced the uncontrolled exploitation of forests that had prevailed until then.

The concept of sustainability was first expressed in the forest regulations issued by the respective sovereigns , the oldest known of which is the forest regulations of the Speyer diocese from 1442. With these regulations, which were characterized by strong patriarchal thinking and had their high time between 1500 and 1800, the sovereigns wanted to secure the wood needs of their subjects as well as the woodworking trades and industries in the long term. Their goal was to use the raw material, which is often becoming scarce, as economical as possible. They also obliged the lordly offices to do this. For example, a forest code for the Fichtelgebirge of 1574 stipulated that wood reserves should be built up for war, fire and other emergencies. A Saxon wood code from 1560 uses the terms “pre-existing, remaining and persistent use” for the objectives. Although the rules were quickly forgotten, especially in times of war, and had to be revised later, some of them lasted for a very long time, such as the old Bavarian forest code which was valid from 1568 to 1852.

The actual concept of sustainability first found its expression in the forests of the mines and salt pans. In a Council Chancellor letter from the city of Reichenhall, for the first time in 1661, the idea of ​​the “eternal forest” was formulated: “God created the forest for the salt spring so that it could continue forever as he did / so man should keep it: before the old goes out , the boy has already grown up to be hacked up again. ” Brine was evaporated in Reichenhall to produce salt , which required a lot of firewood . In the forests around the saltworks, only as many trees should be felled as will grow back each year in the same area. The saltworks administration even drew up appropriate logging plans, but no one followed them at the time.

In the mining state of the western Harz, the binding force of such regulations increased under the influence of an ethic of responsibility that is derived from the Lutheran literature of the fathers of the household. Around 1660, the term "follow up" appears here for the first time in a forest code. From 1675 to 1680, approx. 30,000 hectares of forest were measured and described in a detailed inventory. In 1732, Johann Georg von Langen finally presented the first periodic tables for wood use in his atlas of the lower Blankenburg forests .

Title page of Sylvicultura oeconomica , or haußwirthliche message and natural instruction for wild tree cultivation from 1713

The term sustainability was used by Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714), chief miner in Saxony , in 1713 against the background of an increasing supraregional wood shortage :

“ Will the greatest art / science / industry and establishment of this country be based on it / how to do a sothane conservation and cultivation of the wood / that there is a continuous, constant and sustainable use / because it is an indispensable thing / without which the country in may not remain in his essence (in the sense of essence, existence, d. author) . "(Pp. 105-106 in the" Sylvicultura Oeconomica ").
Quote "sustainable use" on page 105 of Sylvicultura Oeconomica, or Haußwirthliche message and natural instruction for wild tree breeding from 1713
Georg Ludwig Hartig , one of the founders of forest science

Georg Ludwig Hartig also made a decisive contribution to the implementation of the concept of sustainability in forestry . He wrote:

"Among all the efforts of the forester there is probably no one that is more important and more meritorious than the breeding of the wood or the upbringing of young forests, because this replaces the annual timber levy and the forest has to be guaranteed to last forever."

- Instructions on how to grow wood for foresters . Marburg 1791, introduction by S. V

and later emphasized:

“Sustainable forest management cannot be imagined or expected if the timber output from the forests is not calculated for sustainability. Every wise forest management must therefore try to use the forests [...] as high as possible, but in such a way that the offspring can derive at least as much benefit from it as the generation now living appropriates. "

- Instructions for the valuation of the forests or the determination of the timber yield of the forests . Edition of 1804

Originally, sustainability was a purely economic principle for the permanent securing of continuous wood deliveries for the mining companies dependent on them. But von Carlowitz already recognized the ethical and aesthetic values ​​of the forest.

Heinrich Cotta was another advocate of sustainable silviculture . In the course of the 19th century and up to the 1920s, the term was expanded beyond pure mass sustainability - for example in the demands of Karl Gayer (1882), Alfred Möller (1923) with the so-called " permanent forest idea " and Hans Lemmel ( 1939). In the 1950s, Franz Heske transferred the forestry concept of sustainability to other areas of human life and developed the organic philosophy from this .

The Helsinki Resolution (1993) defines sustainable forest management in modern terms as

“ The treatment and use of forests in a way and to an extent that their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their ability to perform the relevant ecological, economic and social functions now and in the future at local, national and global level without harming other ecosystems. "

Corresponding developments towards sustainable forest management can, however, also be observed at about the same time in other European countries - even if the triggers in individual cases were different from those in German-speaking countries . In Germany , the decisive trigger was the growing shortage of timber for house, castle and shipbuilding, which led to the short-term forest use , which is often aimed at energy wood production and forest by-products (e.g. pig fattening in the forest , litter and pest use, etc.) to transfer a long-term timber production system. Against this background, the inflated self-assessment of German forestry as the global "inventor" of sustainability should be relativized. For example, the development in Japan was geared towards sustainable forest production even earlier than in Europe (see below). On the other hand, it is correct that Hans Carl von Carlowitz coined the term sustainability for the first time and that it is therefore of forestry / mining origin.

The independent development in Japan

The concept of sustainability has also been developed in Japanese forestry, completely independent of Central Europe. By 1550, roughly a quarter of the total area of ​​Japan was deforested , mainly on Honshu . Forest destruction reached its peak between 1570 and 1650. By 1710, practically all accessible forest areas on the three main islands had been destroyed. Forest fires, soil erosion and floods increased sharply, leading to severe famine at the end of the 17th century.

At that time, the Japanese economy was extremely dependent on the use of wood: by the end of the 19th century, most buildings were made of wood, and the large castles and temples were also made of wood. The ships that carried the wood were also made of wood. Wood was also used for heating and cooking; charcoal was burned for the production of salt, ceramics and iron. Farmland was made fertile with "green manure" by removing leaves, tree bark and twigs from the forest. For one hectare of arable land, “green fertilizer” from five to ten hectares of forest was required.

The shoguns of the Tokugawa period , relying on Confucian principles, enforced sustainable forest management. In a first order from 1666, the Shogun called for young trees to be planted. A sophisticated forest management system was in place by 1700. Responsible forest officials have been appointed for almost all forests. They cordoned off deforested areas and thus enabled the forest to be regenerated. Permits had to be obtained for logging or grazing animals in the forest; Slash and burn was banned. The forests were recorded in meticulously kept inventories. Guards went on patrol and checked all timber loads for compliance with the rules. In addition, it was determined who was allowed to use how much wood, depending on the social status. Certain tree species, such as cedar and oak, were entirely reserved for the state.

Today, forests cover most of Japan again

Further developments reduced the need for wood: This included the fact that more food was obtained through fishing; the “green fertilizer” was increasingly being replaced by fishmeal. From the late 17th century onwards, more and more coal was used as fuel. Houses with heavy wooden beams were replaced by lighter structures; they were also built in such a way that they were heated by the sun in winter. More efficient stoves replaced the open hearths, and instead of heating the whole house, small, portable coal stoves were used.

Forest science was also funded by the state as early as the 17th century. The experiments and observations have been published in numerous journals and books. The first comprehensive work by Miyazaki Antei appeared in 1697 under the title Nōgyō zensho . Between 1750 and 1800 all areas were transferred to plantation forestry, and after 1800 wood production increased again. Today around 80 percent of the area is densely forested, although Japan is heavily industrialized and densely populated.

However, Japan is also one of the countries that - like Germany - consume more products made of wood than produce wood. All in all, your own resources are conserved at the expense of those in other countries.

Certification

In Germany and worldwide, forests can receive forest certificates ( PEFC or Forest Stewardship Council ). In addition to sustainability, the environmental compatibility and profitability of forest operations are to be promoted and awarded .

See also

literature

  • Richard Hölzl: Historicizing Sustainability. German scientific forestry in the 18th and 19th centuries , Science as Culture 19/4, 2010, 431-460.
  • Karl Hasel , Ekkehard Schwartz : Forest history. A floor plan for study and practice . Kessel, Remagen 2002, ISBN 3-935638-26-4
  • Hannß Carl von Carlowitz : Sylvicultura oeconomica or Hauswirthliche message and natural instructions for wild tree breeding. ( Digital copy from SLUB Dresden ) - Reprint of the Leipzig, Braun, 1713 edition / edited by Klaus Irmer and Angela Kießling; Foreword by Ulrich Grober . - TU Bergakademie Freiberg ; Akad. Buchhdl. 2000 ISBN 3-86012115-4 ; Reading sample from the second edition from 1732 (PDF; 2.6 MB), ISBN 978-3-941300-19-4 ; Reprint of the 1st edition from 1713, Verlag Kessel, reading sample on: www.forstbuch.de , ISBN 978-3-941300-56-9
  • Hans G. Nutzinger : From the flow economy to sustainability - On the use of finite resources in time , in: Bernd Biervert / Martin Held (ed.): Time in the economy. Perspectives for Theory Building. Frankfurt / M. - New York: Campus 1996, pp. 207-235.
  • Wolfgang Wüst : Sustainable State Policy? Princely rule and the environment in the premodern , in: Journal for Bavarian State History 70 (2007) Issue 1, pp. 85-108.
  • Wolfgang Wüst: Environment and monastery - the hunting, forest and wood regulations from March 17, 1787 in Ottobeuren , in: Korbinian Birnbacher, Stephan Haering (ed.): Germania Monastica. Festschrift for Ulrich Faust OSB on his 80th birthday , StMGB - Studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches 126, St. Ottilien 2015, English abstract, pp. 373–390.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Bode (ed.): Natural forest management. Process protection or biological sustainability? , (Holm 1997, ISBN 3-930720-31-0 )
  2. ↑ cf. For example: Minister for Economic Affairs, Forestry Framework Directive for the Management of Public Forests in Saarland , General Decree, Saarbrücken 1992, OCLC 46184892
  3. ^ Karl Hasel, Ekkehard Schwartz: Forest history. A floor plan for study and practice . 2nd updated edition. Kessel, Remagen 2002, ISBN 3-935638-26-4 , p. 138
  4. ^ A b Karl Hasel, Ekkehard Schwartz: Forest history. A floor plan for study and practice . 2nd updated edition. Kessel, Remagen 2002, ISBN 3-935638-26-4 , p. 307
  5. ↑ Forest and Holtz order of the Elector August of Saxony from September 8, 1560 in: Georg Viktor Schmid: Handbook of all forest and hunting laws of the Kingdom of Saxony that have been published since 1560 up to the most recent time , first part of forest laws, from FW Goedsche , Meißen 1839, p. 3ff. Digitized version , accessed on July 31, 2015
  6. ^ Karl Hasel, Ekkehard Schwartz: Forest history. A floor plan for study and practice . 2nd updated edition. Kessel, Remagen 2002, ISBN 3-935638-26-4 , p. 139
  7. ↑ Georg Meister, Monika Offenberger : The time of the forest . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-86150-630-0 , p. 73.
  8. ↑ Brage bei der Wieden: Comments on the "discovery of sustainability" . In: Abhandlungen der Braunschweigische Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft 64 (2012), pp. 125–145.
  9. ^ Sylvicultura Oeconomica
  10. ↑ Wilhelm Bode and v. Hohnhorst: Turn of the forest. From forest forest to natural forest , Munich 1994 (4th edition Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-45984-6 )
  11. ↑ Jared Diamond : Collapse. Why societies survive or perish . S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-10-013904-6 , pp. 366-381. (This source is the evidence for the entire section "The independent development in Japan")