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Forests, timber & hunting

Ilse Aigner

"Our forests – nature and an economic factor at the same time"(Federal Minister Ilse Aigner)

Germany has more than 11 million hectares of high-grade, biodiverse forests with steadily growing timber stocks, the largest in Europe. The entire forestry and timber industry generates sales revenues of roughly Euro 160 billion every year and employs more than 1.25 million people. With its Wood Charter and Forest Strategy 2020 the BMELV documents its support for the increased use of timber, the sustainable management of forests and conservation of biodiversity in indigenous forests. Hunting also plays an increasingly important role here. It helps to maintain the increasingly challenged habitats of indigenous flora and fauna in forests and open fields.

The BMELV’s objective is to secure the positive development of forestry and the timber industry in order to benefit the climate, quality of life, innovation and jobs. In international forestry policy the Federal Government seeks to combat illegal logging and to maintain global forests.

International Year of Forests 2011

State Secretary Dr. Robert Kloos (middle), Member of the German Bundestag Georg Schirmbeck (President of the German Forestry Council; right) and Ulrich Huth (President of the German Timber Industry Council) with carpenters from the carpenter national team

An interim review

The cultural heritage of our forests is one of the main areas of focus at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) in 2011.

read more: International Year of Forests 2011 …

International Forest Policy

Beech forest

BMELV co-ordinates the federal government’s international forest policy and is committed both to combating ongoing deforestation and illegal logging, and to promoting sustainable forest management.

read more: International Forest Policy …

Procurement rules of the Federal Government for wood products

Lumberjack cutting down a tree

With 2011 being the International Year of Forests, the Federal Government is pointing the way forwards towards sustainable forest management by updating the federal administration’s procurement rules for wood and wood products.

read more: Procurement rules of the Federal Government for wood products …

Discover the cultural heritage of our forests!

Stylized tree of pictograms with forest elements

The United Nations want the special responsibility that humans bear for forests to become the focus of the world's attention. To this end, they declared the year 2011 as the "International Year of Forests".

read more: Discover the cultural heritage of our forests! …

Federal Government signs agreement on forest-protection projects

Wald

In the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference (29.11. – 10.12.2010 in Cancun, Mexico), the Federal Government signed an agreement with the World Bank on the funding of forest-protection projects.

read more: Federal Government signs agreement on forest-protection projects …

National Forest Inventories

Messung des Baumumfangs

National Forest Inventories update and improve the information on sustainable forest management in Germany that is available to policymakers, the forestry and timber sectors and the general public.

read more: National Forest Inventories …

Results of the Forest Condition Survey 2009

The infructescence of a beech tree

All tree species except for beech trees had a better crown condition than one year ago. 36 percent of trees did not have any defoliation at all, compared with 31 percent in the previous year.

read more: Results of the Forest Condition Survey 2009 …

Using Scientific Methods to Combat Illegal Logging

Baumstumpf

Scientific workshop with international guests discussed methods for identifying timber origin

Summary and conclusions of the workshop held in Königswinter, Germany, October 2007.

read more: Using Scientific Methods to Combat Illegal Logging …

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