Forest in Germany
The forest in Germany comprises 11.4 million hectares, 32 percent of the total area of the country. Around 90 billion young and old trees grow in German forests with a total of 3.7 billion cubic meters of wood .
The definition of the Federal Forest Act (BWaldG) for forest reads: “Forest in the sense of this law is any area covered with forest plants. Forest also includes cleared or cleared areas, forest paths, forest dividing and safety strips, forest ponds and clearings, forest meadows, deforestation areas, wood storage areas and other areas connected to and used by the forest. "
Forest area
According to the results of the Third National Forest Inventory (2012), in Germany with 11,419,124 hectares, 32.0 percent of the land area is planted with forest. Of this, 11,054,162 hectares are wood and 364,962 hectares are non-wood. The German forest area increased by a total of 49,597 hectares or 0.4 percent between 2002 and 2012. During this period, new forest was created on around 108,000 hectares and around 58,000 hectares of the previous forest area were used for other purposes. The results of the 2017 carbon inventory show only a slight change in forest area in Germany with a total of 11,443,093 hectares of forest, of which 11,084,071 hectares are wood and 359,022 hectares are non-wood.
The state with the largest forest area is Bavaria with 2.6 million hectares of forest. Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate have the largest proportion of forest in the state : 42.3 percent are forested in both countries.
| country | Forest area | Forest share in the land area | Change in forest area 2002–2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | 1,371,847 hectares | 38.4% | −700 ha |
| Bavaria | 2,605,563 ha | 36.9% | −800 ha |
| Brandenburg + Berlin | 1,130,847 ha | 37.2% | −1,185 ha |
| Hamburg + Bremen | 13,846 ha | 11.9% | +791 ha |
| Hesse | 894,180 ha | 42.3% | +4,799 ha |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 558,123 ha | 24.1% | +2,881 ha |
| Lower Saxony | 1,204,591 ha | 25.3% | +11,720 ha |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 909,511 ha | 26.7% | +11,135 ha |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 839,796 ha | 42.3% | −1,493 ha |
| Saarland | 102,634 ha | 39.9% | +0 ha |
| Saxony | 553,206 ha | 28.9% | +4,784 ha |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 532,481 ha | 26.0% | +8,378 ha |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 173,412 ha | 11.0% | +4,288 ha |
| Thuringia | 549,088 ha | 34.0% | +5,000 ha |
| Germany as a whole | 11,419,124 ha | 32.0% | +49,597 ha |
The Federal Statistical Office records the forest area according to different parameters than the federal forest inventory. It is based on the “actual use” of the real estate cadastre . As of December 31, 2018, the Federal Statistical Office for Germany reported a forest area of 106,546 km² and a wooded area of 4,121 km².
The state of Berlin is the most densely forested city-state: 157.52 km² of forest area corresponds to 18% of the total area of the federal capital. In Hamburg there are forests on 43.98 km², which corresponds to an area share of 6%. The federal state with the least forests in both absolute and relative terms is Bremenː the state has only 4.47 km² of forest area, which makes up an area of 1.07 percent of the city-state. The majority of the Bremen forests are the Bremen part of the Neuenkirchener Heide .
Forest owner
There are around 2 million forest owners in Germany . In addition to the forest owners, forest owners also include beneficiaries, provided they are the direct owners of the forest.
The forest ownership types are defined as follows according to Section 3 of the Federal Forest Act (BWaldG):
- State forest : Forest wholly owned by the federal government, a state or an institution or foundation under public law, as well as forest jointly owned by a state, insofar as it is viewed as state forest under state law.
- Corporate forest: Forest in the sole ownership of the municipalities, municipal associations, special-purpose associations and other corporations under public law. The forest is excluded from religious communities and their institutions, as well as from real associations, Hauberggenossenschaften, market cooperatives, farmsteads and similar communities (community forests), as far as it is not regarded as a corporate forest according to state law.
- Private forest : Forest that is neither state nor corporate forest.
According to the surveys of the National Forest Inventory, 48.0 percent of the German forest area is private forest, 29.0 percent state forest of the federal states, 19.4 percent corporate forest and 3.5 percent state forest of the federal government (federal forest). The federal state with the largest share of private forest is North Rhine-Westphalia with 66.8 percent. With 46.1 percent, Rhineland-Palatinate has the highest proportion of corporate forests. The state forest dominates with 50.1 percent of the area in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
| country | Private forest | Corporate forest | State forest (land) | Federal forest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | 35.9% | 40.0% | 23.6% | 0.5% |
| Bavaria | 55.7% | 12.4% | 29.8% | 2.1% |
| Brandenburg + Berlin | 59.1% | 7.4% | 27.4% | 6.1% |
| Hamburg + Bremen | 54.3% | 14.3% | 31.4% | - |
| Hesse | 24.5% | 36.3% | 38.2% | 1.1% |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 39.5% | 10.3% | 41.2% | 8.9% |
| Lower Saxony | 58.7% | 8.9% | 27.9% | 4.6% |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 66.8% | 16.1% | 13.2% | 3.8% |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 26.7% | 46.1% | 25.6% | 1.6% |
| Saarland | 28.6% | 22.9% | 47.7% | 0.8% |
| Saxony | 45.2% | 10.3% | 38.5% | 6.0% |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 54.3% | 9.1% | 26.3% | 10.2% |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 51.4% | 14.5% | 31.0% | 3.2% |
| Thuringia | 43.6% | 15.8% | 37.1% | 3.5% |
| Germany as a whole | 48.0% | 19.4% | 29.0% | 3.5% |
There are 16 state forest companies in Germany: 15 forest companies from the federal states (except Bremen) and the Federal Forests division of the Federal Agency for Real Estate . The largest forest owner in Germany is the Free State of Bavaria with around 778,000 hectares, which are mainly managed by the Bavarian State Forests (BaySF). The federal government has 366,000 hectares of forest managed by the Federal Forests division.
The number of corporate forests in Germany is estimated at 60,000, with an average farm size of 38 hectares. The monastery chamber of Hanover has the largest German corporate forest with 24,400 hectares. The city of Brilon is the largest communal forest owner: it owns 7,750 hectares of forest. The city of Berlin also claims to be the largest communal forest owner in Germany, as around 12,200 hectares of its total of 28,500 hectares of urban forest are in the state of Brandenburg and are managed there as a communal forest (and not as a state forest).
The private forest in Germany is distributed among almost 2 million owners. The average size of German private forests is 3 hectares. While only 13 percent of the private forest area is in the property size class over 1,000 hectares, 50 percent of the area and 98 percent of the owners are in small private forests up to 20 hectares in size. The DBU Heritage GmbH has approximately 69,000 hectares of total area (including open land) is the largest private forest owner in Germany. The churches in Germany cultivate around 150,000 hectares of forest spread across over 6,500 legal entities ( parishes , monasteries , foundations, dioceses ). Even if the churches are largely public corporations , the church forest is a private forest.
Tree species
Main tree species
In the Third National Forest Inventory (2012) , 51 tree species or tree species groups were surveyed in German forests . The largest share of the wood flooring is occupied by spruce with 26.0 percent, followed by pine with 22.9 percent, beech with 15.8 percent and oak with 10.6 percent. Common tree species in German forests are the silver birch ( Betula pendula ), the common ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ), the black alder ( Alnus glutinosa ), the European larch ( Larix decidua ), the common Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) and the Sycamore maple ( Acer pseudoplatanus ).
| Tree species group | Area a | Share of forest area a | Area change 2002–2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | 1,680,072 ha | 15.8% | +102,324 ha |
| Oak trees | 1,129,706 ha | 10.6% | +70,221 ha |
| ALN b | 1,147,904 ha | 10.8% | +43,273 ha |
| ALH c | 769,578 ha | 7.2% | +99,550 ha |
| Total deciduous trees | 4,727,260 ha | 44.5% | +315,368 ha |
| Spruce trees | 2,763,219 ha | 26.0% | −242,487 ha |
| Pine trees | 2,429,623 ha | 22.9% | −84,774 ha |
| Larches | 307,050 ha | 2.9% | +6,296 ha |
| Douglas firs | 217,604 ha | 2.0% | +35,205 ha |
| Fir trees | 182,757 ha | 1.7% | +18,540 ha |
| Total conifers | 5,900,253 ha | 55.5% | −267,220 ha |
Rare tree species
On behalf of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), the occurrence of ten rare native tree species in Germany was determined as part of the project recording and documentation of genetic resources of rare tree species in Germany between 2010 and 2013. The following numbers of individuals were recorded:
- Downy oak ( Quercus pubescens ): 15,000 individuals in only 26 occurrences. The main distribution of the downy oak in Germany is in the Kaiserstuhl with approx. 11,000 specimens.
- Service tree ( Sorbus torminalis ): 80,000 individuals, mainly in southwest and central Germany. Around half of German service berries grow in Franconia .
- Service sparrows ( Sorbus domestica ): 2,500 specimens in naturally existing populations (without planted "field spearlings"), especially in the climatically favored areas of Germany. Half of all German service sparrows can be found in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria .
- Crabapple ( Malus sylvestris ): 5,500 individuals in approx. 250 wild occurrences.
- Wild pear ( Pyrus pyraster ): 14,000 specimens.
- European yew ( Taxus baccata ): 60,000 individuals. The main distribution areas of the yew are in Thuringia (33,000 specimens) and Bavaria (15,000 specimens).
- Field maple ( Acer campestre ): Around 600,000 trees, mainly in Bavaria (400,000 specimens), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (80,000 specimens) and Thuringia (70,000 specimens).
- Green alder ( Alnus viridis ): 110,000 shrub individuals in the Allgäu , Werdenfelser Land and Berchtesgaden Alps , especially at altitudes between 1500 m above sea level. NN and 2000 m above sea level NN . In addition, there are 22 post-glacial relic occurrences in the Black Forest with a total of 1,000 specimens.
- Gray alder ( Alnus incana ): 2.1 million specimens, predominantly accompanying rivers in montane to high-montane locations ( 500 m above sea level to 1400 m above sea level ) in the Alpine foothills and the Alps .
- Common bird cherry ( Prunus padus ): 3.9 million individuals, mainly in riparian forests . The main distribution areas are Lower Saxony (1.3 million copies) and Saxony-Anhalt (900,000 copies).
Foreign tree species
Foreign tree species, also referred to as foreign countries , non-resident tree species or guest tree species , are tree species that have not occurred naturally in Germany since the end of the last cold period . The foreign countries come from other countries and continents and were imported to Germany by foresters, gardeners and botanists. B. to increase the yield of the forests, as botanical exotic species or because of special properties. The foreign tree species, e.g. common Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ), Japanese larch ( Larix kaempferi ), red oak ( Quercus rubra ), common robinia ( Robinia pseudoacacia ), Sitka spruce ( Picea sitchensis ), black pine ( Pinus nigra ), white pine ( Pinus strobus ) and coastal fir ( Abies grandis ), according to the results of the Third National Forest Inventory (2012) , account for 4.7 percent of the German forest area in the main forest cover with a total of 509,000 hectares. The most widespread in the main stocking of German forests is the Douglas fir with 218,000 hectares, followed by the Japanese larch with 83,000 hectares, the red oak with 55,000 hectares and the robinia with 11,000 hectares. With a total of 214,000 hectares, foreign tree species make up 8 percent of young stock in German forests. The late blooming bird cherry ( Prunus serotina ) with 104,000 hectares is the most common foreigner in the young stock , followed by the Douglas fir with 40,000 hectares, the red oak with 11,000 hectares and the robinia with 9,000 hectares. The foreign tree species have so far only played a subordinate role in forest development in Germany.
Forest conversion and change of tree species
By nature, the German forest would be strongly characterized by deciduous trees, especially the common beech ( Fagus sylvatica ). Today's tree species composition with high proportions of conifers reflects the forest use of the past centuries. From the Middle Ages to the early 19th century, many forests in Germany were overexploited or cleared . In order to avert an impending wood shortage , these devastated forests and bare areas were reforested with the common spruce ( Picea abies ) on the better soils with a good water supply and with the Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) on the more nutrient-poor and drier locations as part of sustainable forestry . These two robust tree species cope better with the difficult ecological conditions on clear-cut areas than frost-sensitive tree species such as red beech and silver fir ( Abies alba ) and also deliver high timber yields. During and after the two world wars, the war destruction, the reparation blows and the need for wood for the reconstruction resulted in large bare areas, on which pure stands of spruce and pine were often established again. The forest owners and foresters at that time achieved a great cultural achievement with the reconstruction of the forests - in view of the large areas and only limited funds available.
It soon became apparent, however, that large-scale, pure conifer stands of the same age (see also monoculture ) also cause major problems, such as mass reproduction of bark beetles and other insects, soil acidification and an increased risk of forest fires and wind throws . Since the forest dieback debate in the 1980s and at the latest since the major windthrow damage caused by the Vivian and Wiebke hurricanes in 1990, foresters and many forest owners have been gradually converting the pure coniferous stands into species-rich and stable mixed forests as a precaution . This preventive forest conversion is also considered sensible in view of climate change , as the tree species spruce and scots pine , which were originally adapted to the climatic conditions of the mountains and the boreal zone , are even more susceptible to damage with the expected higher temperatures and longer dry periods.
In the results of the federal forest inventories , progress reflect the forest conversion in recent decades resist:
- In the period between the First Federal Forest Inventory (BWI I) 1987 and the Second Federal Forest Inventory (BWI II) 2002, the area of the spruce decreased by 219,000 hectares in the old federal states , while the area of the beech trees increased by 151,000 hectares. This development played next to the planned forest conversion larger Kalamitäts surfaces by wind throws (hurricanes Vivian, Wiebke and Lothar an important role) and bark beetle infestation.
- In the period between the Second National Forest Inventory (BWI II) in 2002 and the Third National Forest Inventory in 2012, the spruce area in the entire federal territory decreased by a further 242,000 hectares and the pine area also decreased by 85,000 hectares. Among other things, the bark beetle damage after the summer of the century 2003 and the windthrow damage caused by Hurricane Kyrill in 2007 contributed to this. The beech area expanded by 102,000 hectares, the area of the other deciduous trees by 213,000 hectares. The conifer species Douglas fir and silver fir, which are important for forest conversion, have also increased their area slightly by 35,000 hectares and 19,000 hectares, respectively. The total area of deciduous trees increased between 2002 and 2012 by 2.8 percentage points to 44.5 percent; the proportion of conifers decreased analogously to 55.5 percent.
Forest-wild conflict
Too high game densities of herbivores , especially ungulates , can browsing a target of environmental and economic aspects of the forest natural regeneration impede or prevent. By giving preference to certain tree species, selective browsing can displace mixed tree species from the stand and thus reduce tree species diversity. Planted forest crops that are not protected by individual tree protection or fences are also affected. Peeling damage can endanger older forest stands that have already outgrown the browsing for decades and, in the event of damage, destabilize and economically devalue.
This so-called forest-game conflict - also referred to as forest- hunting or forest owner-hunter conflict to clarify the conflict of goals and the actors - is considered a significant problem by foresters, nature conservation associations and forest owners with a view to the intended conversion of forests to climate-stable mixed forests considered. Especially since the broadcast to Christmas Eve 1971 film remarks about the red deer of Horst Stern previously mainly themed in professional circles forest-game conflict has become the focus of public and politics and became one of the most prominent issues in the debate on forest, forestry and Hunting in Germany . In 1988, hunters who saw an unwillingness to seriously regulate game populations in the attitude represented by the traditional German Hunting Association (DJV) founded the Ökologische Jagdverein Bayern eV and later ecological hunting association (ÖJV), which through consistent and effective hunting reduces and wants to enable “near-natural forest management” across the board.
Particularly in large private forests and in state forest operations , which as owner-hunted owners have a free hand in hunting, regional successes have been achieved in reducing hoofed game and browsing damage, but in large parts of Germany the problem continues to exist in the 21st century. The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) summarizes the main results of an expert opinion commissioned jointly with the German Forestry Council (DFWR) and the Working Group on Natural Forest Management (ANW) and by the forest science chairs of the Georg-August University of Göttingen and the Technical University of Munich was created in a press release as follows:
“Excessive hoofed game populations lead to massive problems in large parts of German forests; the damage that has occurred is not only ecologically questionable, but also has a considerable economic and thus financial dimension. The facility and the necessary conversion into natural mixed forests are largely hindered by game browsing. "
Pest Control
Pesticides such as cyhalothrin and tebufenozide are used to control pests in commercial forests .
Wood supply, growth and use
According to the Third National Forest Inventory (2012), around 90 billion young and old trees grow in German forests , including 7.6 billion trees with a chest height diameter of seven centimeters or more . They have a total of 3.663 billion solid cubic meters of wood with bark (VFm) or an average of 336 VFm per hectare. The stock has thus increased by a total of 227 million VFm or by an average of 19 VFm per hectare between 2002 and 2012. In particular, the supply of deciduous trees increased by 176 million VFm to 1.421 billion VFm. The stocks of conifers have also increased in total over the past ten years. Only in the case of the spruce has the supply decreased by around 49 million VFm since 2002, which means that more spruce was used than has grown back. In the context of the forest conversion from pure conifer stands to species-rich mixed forests, this is definitely wanted.
In the period between 2002 and 2012, an average of 121.6 million VFm of wood grew annually in German forests. This increase was offset by an average annual use of only 95.9 million VFm, which led to the above-mentioned stock build-up and the accumulation of deadwood. The average annual increase was 10.9 VFm per hectare. The Douglas fir stands showed the highest growth rates with 18.9 VFm per hectare and year, followed by the fir stands with 16.3 VFm per hectare and year and the spruce stands with 15.3 VFm per hectare and year. In the case of deciduous trees, the beech stands achieved the highest growth rates with 10.3 VFm per hectare and year.
Between 2002 and 2012, an average of 95.9 million VFm of wood was used annually in German forests . More than half of the use was made by the spruce with 49.3 million VFm per year. Felling of pine followed at a great distance with 17.7 million VFm per year and of beech with 13.0 million VFm per year. 49 percent of the wood was used in private forests, 20 percent in corporate forests, 29 percent in the state forests of the federal states and 2 percent in federal forests. The average annual logging of 95.9 million storage cubic meters with bark (VFm) corresponds to 75.7 million harvested cubic meters without bark (EFm). The timber measure harvest solid meter is common in the timber trade and represents the usable amount of wood without bark and harvest losses.
The share of agriculture, forestry and fishing in gross value added in Germany was 0.7 percent in 2018. In the forest and wood cluster , which includes forestry, the woodworking and processing industries, the wood construction, paper, publishing and printing industries and the wood trade, there were around 182 billion euros in sales in Germany in 2016 Employed 1.1 million people.
| Tree species group | Wood supply 2012 d | Change in stocks 2002–2012 d | Average annual growth (2002–2012) e | Average annual usage (2002–2012) e | Average annual growth per hectare (2002–2012) f |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | 635 million VFm | +57.8 million VFm | 18.3 million VFm / a | 13.0 million VFm / a | 10.3 VFm / ha * a |
| Oak trees | 361 million VFm | +50.1 million VFm | 9.4 million VFm / a | 4.3 million VFm / a | 8.3 VFm / ha * a |
| ALN g | 220 million VFm | +27.3 million VFm | 7.3 million VFm / a | 3.5 million VFm / a | 6.4 VFm / ha * a |
| ALH h | 204 million VFm | +40.6 million VFm | 6.6 million VFm / a | 2.5 million VFm / a | 8.9 VFm / ha * a |
| Total deciduous trees | 1,421 million VFm | +175.7 million VFm | 41.5 million VFm / a | 23.3 million VFm / a | 8.7 VFm / ha * a |
| Spruce trees | 1,206 million VFm | −48.6 million VFm | 45.7 million VFm / a | 49.3 million VFm / a | 15.3 VFm / ha * a |
| Pine trees | 768 million VFm | +55.0 million VFm | 24.2 million VFm / a | 17.7 million VFm / a | 9.5 VFm / ha * a |
| Larches | 102 million VFm | +11.6 million VFm | 3.4 million VFm / a | 2.2 million VFm / a | 10.7 VFm / ha * a |
| Douglas firs | 73 million VFm | +23.7 million VFm | 3.9 million VFm / a | 1.5 million VFm / a | 18.9 VFm / ha * a |
| Fir trees | 93 million VFm | +10.0 million VFm | 3.0 million VFm / a | 1.9 million VFm / a | 16.3 VFm / ha * a |
| Total conifers | 2,242 million VFm | +51.7 million VFm | 80.1 million VFm / a | 72.6 million VFm / a | 12.8 VFm / ha * a |
| All tree species | 3,663 million VFm | +227.4 million VFm | 121.6 million VFm / a | 95.9 million VFm / a | 10.9 VFm / ha * a |
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) publishes an annual timber market report, which is essentially based on compilations from the Federal Statistical Office . The logging quantities mentioned in the report are regularly below the average usage quantities determined by the Federal Forest Inventory (BWI). This is due, among other things, to the fact that the quantities of wood used in the small private forest (especially energy wood for own consumption) cannot be sufficiently statistically recorded. According to the timber market report, logging in Germany totaled 64.55 million cubic meters of harvest without bark in 2018 . The spruce wood species group accounted for 39.42 million cubic meters of harvested wood, the pine wood species group accounted for 12.10 million cubic meters, the beech wood species group 11.00 million cubic meters and the oak wood species group for 2.03 million cubic meters. 45.2 percent of the nationwide logging was done in private forests in 2018, 18.8 percent in corporate forests and 36.0 percent in state forests. The Federal Statistical Office has continuously published detailed data on the timber harvest by year in logging statistics. The following is an overview of the statistics for Germany that relate to harvested cubic meters without bark (EFm):
- 54,356,200 cubic meters of total logging in Germany in 2014
- 55,612,700 solid cubic meters of total logging in Germany in 2015
- 52,193,500 solid cubic meters of total logging in Germany in 2016
- 53,490,700 solid cubic meters of total logging in Germany in 2017
- 64,361,900 solid cubic meters of total logging in Germany in 2018
Deadwood and biotope trees
The equipment with dead wood and biotope trees is of particular importance for the biodiversity of the forests.
The deadwood of dead trees and parts of trees is an important habitat, especially for fungi and insects. The Third National Forest Inventory (2012) found an average deadwood stock of 20.6 cubic meters (VFm) per hectare in German forests . This corresponds to about 6 percent of the living wood supply averaging 336 VFm per hectare. The deadwood stock has increased by 2.1 VFm per hectare since the second federal forest inventory in 2002. Since deadwood rots over time, 1 VFm per hectare of new deadwood has to be added annually in order to permanently maintain a deadwood supply of 20 VFm per hectare. This corresponds to about a tenth of the ongoing growth in forests, which must not be used in order to maintain the amount of dead wood. A particularly large amount of deadwood is found in Baden-Württemberg with 28.8 VFm per hectare, least of all in Brandenburg and Berlin with only 11.0 VFm per hectare. The deadwood is colonized by different species depending on the tree species, the type of deadwood and the degree of decomposition:
- 65 percent of the dead wood in German forests comes from conifers, 7 percent from oaks and 28 percent from other deciduous trees.
- 23 percent is standing deadwood, 48 percent is lying deadwood and 29 percent of the deadwood supply is found in root stocks and removal residues.
- 12 percent of the deadwood was still undecomposed, in 36 percent the decomposition had started, in 34 percent the decomposition was already advanced and 17 percent of the dead wood was already badly rotten.
The biotope trees include trees with woodpecker and breeding caves , eyrie trees and trees with crown deadwood, sludge caves and other habitat features. The Third National Forest Inventory (2012) found an average of 9 biotope trees per hectare. In the entire German forest that is an extrapolated 93 million biotope trees, of which deciduous trees are over-proportionally represented with a share of 60 percent.
Protected areas in the forest
Nature reserves
According to Section 23 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act , nature reserves are legally binding areas in which special protection of nature and the landscape is required. Which actions and changes are allowed or prohibited in a nature reserve is determined by the respective area ordinance. As a rule, visitors are not allowed to leave the paths, pick flowers and have their dogs on a leash. Proper forest management is usually still possible.
In Germany there are a total of 8,676 nature reserves with a total terrestrial area of almost 1.4 million hectares. With 711,000 hectares, more than half of it is in the forest. This corresponds to 6% of the total forest area.
Forest National Parks
In 13 of the 16 national parks in Germany (as of February 2018), the terrestrial areas (excluding marine areas and inland waters) are mainly characterized by forest. In total, the German national parks cover over 136,000 hectares of forest. In the core zones of the national parks there are no more forestry activities and the forests can of course develop without any direct influence from humans. Well-known German forest national parks are for example:
- Bavarian Forest National Park
- Hainich National Park
- Harz National Park
- Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park
- Kellerwald-Edersee National Park
- Black Forest National Park
Natural forest reserves
Natural forest reserves are forest areas in which the use of wood and other forestry interventions are prohibited with a few exceptions for forest protection and traffic safety . Due to the development, which is largely unaffected by direct human intervention, in the long term, forest structures similar to primeval forest are to be created again in the reserves. In addition to nature conservation, the natural forest reserves also serve forest research and forest education . The natural forest reserves are designated by the federal states and in some cases have different country-specific names such as protected forest , natural forest cell , natural forest or natural forest parcel . In Germany there are 742 natural forest reserves with a total area of 35,545 hectares (as of June 2018).
Natura 2000
The Natura 2000 areas ( Habitats Directive and Bird Protection Directive ) in Germany are, at 48 percent, a disproportionately high proportion in the forest. A total of 26,550 km² of forest are in Natura 2000 areas, around a quarter of the German forest area. Almost half of these Natura 2000 forest areas comprise protected forest habitat types in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, 17 of which occur in Germany.
The forest habitat types - also outside of FFH areas - were recorded in the third national forest inventory (2012) . The beech habitat types with 1.6 million hectares, followed by the oak-hornbeam forests with 177,000 hectares and the alluvial forests with 89,000 hectares, are particularly significant in terms of area in the German forests.
| Code (Annex I of the Habitats Directive) | Forest habitat type (short name of the BfN ) | surface |
|---|---|---|
| 9110 | Grove beech forests | 819,809 ha |
| 9130 | Woodruff beech forests | 766,317 ha |
| 9140 | Subalpine sycamore beech forests | 1,898 ha |
| 9150 | Orchid-lime-beech forests | 25,210 ha |
| 9160 | Star chickweed oak hornbeam forests | 81,938 ha |
| 9170 | Bedstraw-oak-hornbeam forests | 95,030 ha |
| 9180 * | Mixed ravine and hillside forests | 14,881 ha |
| 9190 | Old acidic oak forests on sandy soils with English oak | 48,697 ha |
| 91D0 * | Bog forests | 34,297 ha |
| 91E0 * | Alder, ash and softwood alluvial forests | 71,370 ha |
| 91F0 * | Hardwood floodplain forests | 17,752 ha |
| 9410 | Montane to alpine acidic spruce forests | 65,645 ha |
| 9420 | Alpine larch and / or Swiss stone pine forests | 400 ha |
| Total forest habitat types | 2,044,896 ha |
Spell forests
The term `` Bannwald '' denotes various protection categories for forests in the German federal states. In Baden-Württemberg , protected forests are natural forest reserves . In Bavaria and Hesse , protected forests are forest areas that are particularly worthy of protection due to their areal substance. A clearing is allowed only there when a coextensive spare reforestation is done.
Protective forests
The Federal Forest Act (BWaldG) defines protective forest as follows: “Forest can be declared a protective forest if it is necessary to carry out or refrain from certain forest measures in order to avert or prevent dangers, considerable disadvantages or considerable nuisances for the general public. The Declaration on the protection forest is particularly considered for protection against harmful effects within the meaning of the Federal Pollution Control Act of 15 March 1974 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 721), erosion by water and wind, dehydration, harmful run-off of rainwater and avalanches. " Clear cuts In Germany, in protective forests, permission is required from the responsible forest authority.
Protective forests play a major role in Germany, especially in the mountain forests of the Bavarian Alps and the low mountain ranges.
Recreational forests
Recreational forests are forest areas that primarily serve the recreation of the population, especially in the vicinity of cities and larger communities. The definition of recreational forest in the Federal Forest Act (BWaldG) reads: "Forest can be declared recreational forest if it is in the public interest to protect, maintain or shape forest areas for recreational purposes."
Spa and medicinal forests
Spa and medicinal forests have been a special category of forests since 2011 as a supplement to the recreational forest in the State Forest Act of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Section 22 LWaldG ). The International Congress for the Health Potential of Forests defines: “Spa forests are forest areas which, due to various properties, are predestined to develop a broad health-promoting effect. Medicinal forests are forest areas that are designed for therapeutic use by patients with special indications. "
Forest monitoring
National forest inventory
The Federal Forest Inventory (BWI) is a large-scale forest inventory that is carried out every ten years on a systematic 4 × 4 kilometer sample network throughout Germany. It is intended to provide a general overview of the large-scale forest conditions and forest production possibilities. The first federal forest inventory (BWI I, 1986) was carried out in the years 1986 to 1989 in the western German federal states . The second (BWI II, 2002) and the third national forest inventory (2012) then followed throughout Germany in the years 2001 to 2003 and 2011 to 2012.
The legal basis for the federal forest inventory are the federal forest law and the federal ordinances on the respective federal forest inventories.
The national forest inventories are also a basis for the annual national greenhouse gas reports (National Inventory Reports NIR) to which the Federal Republic of Germany has committed itself through the Framework Convention on Climate Change , as a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and through EU decision 280/2004 / EC. In order to obtain reliable figures on carbon storage in the forest between the national forest inventories, the carbon inventory is carried out halfway through the inventory period, most recently the carbon inventory 2017 (CI 2017) with the key date October 31, 2017.
Forest environmental monitoring
The forest condition survey (WZE) records the vitality of the German forests annually. The condition of the crown (especially the crown defoliation) is optically recorded and assessed as a sign of the vitality of the forest trees. The forest condition survey has been carried out in the old federal states since 1984 and in the new federal states since 1990. The nationwide survey is carried out in July and August on a systematic 16 × 16 kilometer sample network (Level I network) on around 10,000 trees and enables representative results for the most important tree species at the federal level. The federal states condense this sample network as required in order to obtain meaningful results for the state level and individual regions.
The soil condition survey (BZE) examines the condition and change of forest soils, vegetation, crown condition and forest nutrition at around 1,900 sample points in Germany. These points are located on a systematic 8 × 8 kilometer sample network (Level I network) in the forest. The first soil condition survey in Germany took place between 1989 and 1992. The second soil condition survey was carried out from 2006 to 2008.
In intensive forest environmental monitoring (Level II network), data are recorded in twelve survey areas on 66 areas across Germany (mainly at forest climate stations), including on meteorology , deposition , soil dissolution , ground vegetation, growth , litter and phenology . These detailed data make it possible to examine cause-and-effect relationships in more detail for the respective ecosystem. The point-representative results of the intensive monitoring represent an important addition to the area-representative forest and soil condition surveys (Level I network).
The legal basis for forest environmental monitoring in Germany is the Federal Forest Act and the Federal Ordinance ForUmV.
Greenhouse gas monitoring forest
As part of the greenhouse gas reporting, the carbon stocks and their changes over time in the five carbon pools (aboveground and underground biomass, dead wood, litter and soil) are determined for Germany's forests and the emissions of carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxide , nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide are shown. From the 2013 reporting year, wood products will be used as additional carbon stores. Data bases are essentially the National Forest Inventory and the soil condition .
The forests in Germany acted as a carbon sink in the last few decades. In the period from 2002 to 2012, the forests absorbed around 52 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. In 2016, 57.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide net were bound in German forests, which corresponds to around 7 percent of total German carbon dioxide emissions. The largest share of the carbon dioxide binding in the forest was accounted for by the increase in biomass with 45.3 million tons and by the binding in the mineral soil with 15.7 million tons. In contrast, the decomposition of dead wood with 2 million tons and the mineralization of organic forest soils (e.g. peat soils) with 1.3 million tons are sources of carbon dioxide.
Depending on the tree species, around 270 kg of carbon are bound in one cubic meter of forest wood. In total, there is a wood supply in Germany of approx. 3662 million cubic meters. Around 2.2 petagrams (2.2 billion tons) of carbon are bound in the entire German forest, 59% of which is accounted for by the biomass of trees, 1% is in dead wood and 40% in litter and forest soil.
Forest in German culture
The forest plays a central role in German culture. At least since the Romantic era , the forest has been an important and typically German cultural asset. The strong emotional attachment of the Germans to their forest was also evident in the intense debate about the death of forests in the 1980s.
literature
- Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL, Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , Berlin 2014. Online version (PDF; 5 MB)
- Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL, publisher): Holzmarktbericht 2018 , Bonn 2019. Online version (PDF; 2 MB)
- Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV, ed.): Forest Strategy 2020 , Berlin 2011. Online version (PDF; 4 MB)
- Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV, ed.): Forest Report of the Federal Government 2009 , Berlin 2009. Online version (PDF; 1 MB)
- Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL, ed.): Forest Report of the Federal Government 2017 , Bonn 2017. Online version (PDF; 4 MB)
- Christian Ammer, Torsten Vor, Thomas Knoke, Stefan Wagner: The forest-wild conflict - analysis and possible solutions against the background of legal, ecological and economic contexts (= Göttingen Forest Sciences . Volume 5 ). Universitätsverlag Göttingen, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-941875-84-5 , doi : 10.17875 / gup2010-280 ( Online [PDF; 4.8 MB ; accessed on January 20, 2019]).
Web links
- Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)
- Thünen Institute (TI)
- bundeswaldinventur.de
- Results of the Third National Forest Inventory (2012)
- waldwissen.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture : Der Wald in Deutschland (2nd edition April 2016), p. 4
- ↑ Thomas Riedel, Petra Henning: Carbon inventory 2017: Forest and wood floor area unchanged in AFZ-Der Wald 14/2019
- ↑ Third National Forest Inventory (2012) . Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ↑ § 2 of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y results database of the Third National Forest Inventory (2012) . Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ↑ Thomas Riedel, Petra Henning: Carbon inventory 2017: Forest and wood floor area unchanged in AFZ-Der Wald 14/2019
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office . Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ^ The forest owners (AGDW) (PDF) . Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ↑ § 4 of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ § 3 of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 9.
- ↑ a b c Polley, H .; Hennig, P .: Forest ownership as reflected in the national forest inventory in AFZ-Der Wald 6/2015
- ^ Forestry Brilon . Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ↑ Berlin - Germany's most densely forested metropolis in AFZ-Der Wald 14/2019
- ↑ BMEL (Hrsg.): The forest in Germany - selected results of the third federal forest inventory , p. 9f.
- ↑ Press release DBU Naturerbe ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 22, 2016.
- ↑ Karl Giesen: Who Owns the German Forest? in AFZ-Der Wald 9/2015
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 12.
- ^ Federal Institute for Food and Agriculture (BLE) . Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ↑ Kroiher, F .; Bolte, A .: Nature conservation and biodiversity as reflected in the BWI 2012 in AFZ-Der Wald 21/2015
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 5.
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 19.
- ↑ Ammer, Vor, Knoke, Wagner: The forest-wild conflict . 2010, p. 48, 63 .
- ↑ RMA Gill: A Review of Damage by Mammals in North Temperate Forests: 3. Impact on Trees and Forests . In: Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research . tape 65 , no. 4 , 1992, pp. 363-388 , doi : 10.1093 / forestry / 65.4.363-a .
- ^ Steeve D. Côté, Thomas P. Rooney, Jean-Pierre Tremblay, Christian Dussault, Donald M. Waller: Ecological Impacts of Deer Overabundance . In: Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics . tape 35 , 2004, pp. 113-147 , doi : 10.1146 / annurev.ecolsys.35.021103.105725 .
- ↑ a b Ammer, Vor, Knoke, Wagner: The forest-wild conflict . 2010, p. 41 .
- ↑ Ammer, Vor, Knoke, Wagner: The forest-wild conflict . 2010, p. 48 f., 139, 180 f .
- ↑ Ammer, Vor, Knoke, Wagner: The forest-wild conflict . 2010, p. 2, 5, 41, 73 f .
- ↑ Friedrich Reimoser: On the evaluation and minimization of game damage in the forest . In: FVA insight . No. 3 , 2011, ISSN 1614-7707 , p. 11 ( waldwissen.net [accessed on January 21, 2019]).
- ↑ Rudi Suchant: What can be new in understanding game damage? In: FVA insight . No. 3 , 2011, ISSN 1614-7707 , p. 7 ( waldwissen.net [accessed on January 21, 2019]).
- ↑ Ludwig Fischer (Ed.): Unfinished Insights - The Journalist and Writer Horst Stern (= contributions to media aesthetics and media history . No. 4 ). Lit Verlag, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-8258-3397-6 , pp. 115 ff., 267 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed January 20, 2019]).
- ↑ Ammer (2010), The forest-wild conflict. P. 15
- ↑ Claus-Peter Lieckfeld: Tatort forest: from someone who set out to save the forest . Westend Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-938060-11-7 , pp. 129 f . ( google.de [accessed on January 15, 2019]).
- ↑ Claus-Peter Lieckfeld: Tatort forest: from someone who set out to save the forest . 1st edition. Westend, Frankfurt / Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-938060-11-7 , pp. 89, 151 ( google.de [accessed January 15, 2019]).
- ↑ Importance of the Hunt. In: Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests. Archived from the original ; accessed on January 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Frank Christian Today: The great Reibach or: "Like the grasshoppers" . In: Eco Hunting . No. 2 , 2018, p. 30 .
- ↑ Frank Christian Today: Why consistent roe deer hunting is sustainable . In: AFZ-DerWald . No. 21 . Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag, 2016, ISSN 1430-2713 , p. 53 .
- ↑ Norbert Bartsch, Ernst Röhrig: Forest ecology: Introduction for Central Europe . 1st edition. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-44268-5 , pp. 177 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-44268-5 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
- ↑ Norbert Bartsch, Ernst Röhrig: Forest ecology: Introduction for Central Europe . 1st edition. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-44268-5 , pp. 174 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-662-44268-5 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
- ↑ a b BfN, DFWR and ANW present expert reports on the forest-game conflict. In: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. May 5, 2010, archived from the original on January 10, 2019 ; accessed on January 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Jens Blankennagel: Controversial insecticide - use in Brandenburg: From Monday "Karate liquid" falls from the sky. In: berliner-kurier.de . May 3, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Franconian forests sprayed with insecticide: This pest is the reason. In: nordbayern.de . May 2, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Third National Forest Inventory (2012) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office / Statista: Share of economic sectors in gross value added in Germany. 2018, accessed September 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Tühnen Institute: forestry cluster: sales, gross value added, the number of enterprises and employees for 2016. 2016, accessed September 8, 2019 .
- ^ BMEL wood market reports . Retrieved June 22, 2017.
- ↑ Timber Market Report 2018 . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), technical series. 3, agriculture, forestry, fishing. 3, Agricultural land use and crop production. 3, forest land use. 1 Overview of the logging statistics ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), Logging Statistics Germany 2014 ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), Logging Statistics Germany 2015 ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), Logging Statistics Germany 2016 ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), Logging Statistics Germany 2017 ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office (Germany), Logging Statistics Germany 2018 ( Memento from April 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 23.
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): The Forest in Germany - Selected Results of the Third National Forest Inventory , p. 27.
- ↑ Section 23 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act
- ↑ Eimer, A. 2017 From through the chimney . Zeit Online from April 6, 2017
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): Forest Report of the Federal Government 2017 , p. 123.
- ↑ BMEL (Ed.): Forest Report of the Federal Government 2017 , p. 123.
- ↑ Database of natural forest reserves in Germany . Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ↑ European Commission (Ed.): Natura 2000 and Forests, Part I-II , 2015, p. 27.
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation; Federal Ministry for Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Ed.): Natura 2000 in Germany , Bonn-Bad Godesberg 2010, p. 34ff.
- ↑ Section 32 of the State Forest Act for Baden-Württemberg
- ↑ Article 11 of the Forest Act for Bavaria
- ↑ Section 13 of the Hessian Forest Act (HWaldG)
- ↑ § 12 of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ § 13 of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ § 22 Recreational, spa and medicinal forest , Forest Act for the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 2011. in Section III. Preservation, management, protection and reproduction of the forest (as amended ).
- ↑ FH Krems Health Week 2018 (accessed on September 17, 2018)
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ↑ a b § 41a of the Federal Forest Act
- ↑ Third Federal Forest Inventory Ordinance ( BGBl. 2007 I p. 954 )
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ↑ ForUmV
- ↑ Thünen Institute . Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ^ A b Michael Köhl et al., Forest and Forestry , in: Guy Brasseur , Daniela Jacob, Susanne Schuck-Zöller (Ed.), Klimawandel in Deutschland. Development, consequences, risks and perspectives . Berlin Heidelberg 2017, 193-202, p. 194.
- ↑ National inventory report on the German greenhouse gas inventory 1990 - 2016 , Federal Environment Agency (Ed.), Dessau-Roßlau 2018, p. 587 (PDF). Retrieved August 30, 2018.
