The history of the Austrian State Award for exemplary forest management
In 1994, the State Award for exemplary forest management was established. The aim was to bring dedicated domestic forest farmers into the spotlight, to honor their work, and to present it to a broader audience.
Forest dieback as a catalyst
In the 1990s, public discussion about forests focused almost exclusively on negative aspects: forest damage and forest dieback. Yet the complex forest ecosystem is multifunctional and diverse. Forests provide recreation, are an important workplace and thus a source of income, they are also habitats for animal and plant species, and they supply the renewable raw material wood.
The idea behind the State Award for exemplary forest management was to steer the predominantly negative public discourse in a positive direction and to bring the wide range of topics related to Austria’s forests and their sustainable management closer to the public. In addition, the award was intended to give forest managers encouragement and motivation during a period of economic difficulty caused by low timber prices, so that they would continue to manage their forests sustainably and in an exemplary manner.
The two now-retired provincial forestry directors Peter Kar in Upper Austria and Hubert Kammerlander in Tyrol, together with the then head of department at the Ministry of Forestry, Ingwald Gschwandtl, created the “State Award for exemplary forest management.”
The State Award for exemplary forest management
The award aimed to demonstrate the many ways in which ecological and economic benefits can be derived simultaneously from forests, to strengthen the self-image of forest farmers, and to enhance the importance of family-based forestry so that the forest ecosystem can be preserved for future generations.
The award recognized private forestry enterprises or cooperatives, and since 2000 also collaborations. The cooperation award was intended to highlight particularly successful examples of forestry partnerships.
Since its first presentation in 1994, more than 220 enterprises have been honored with the State Award for particularly innovative ideas and outstanding achievements — in areas such as silviculture and forest utilization, the marketing of wood and other products, as well as the provision and expansion of forestry services.
Submissions and jury
The call for submissions for the State Award was always issued by the Ministry of Forestry. At the same time, the competition was promoted in agricultural media to enable every forest farmer in Austria to participate. Submissions were made via the provincial chambers of agriculture and Land&Forst Betriebe Österreich.
A jury nominated by the Ministry of Forestry selected ten winning projects from the submitted entries. The eight-member jury consisted of forestry experts from the federal states, the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture, forestry training institutions, Land&Forst Betriebe Österreich, and the Federal Association of Forest Farmers. The chair was held by the head of the forestry section in the Ministry of Forestry.
In evaluating the submitted projects, the jury placed particular emphasis on creativity, ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, ecologically oriented production, and economic optimization in the use or marketing of forest resources.
Award ceremony
The ceremonial presentation of the State Award winners took place annually, alternating between the federal states, as part of the Austrian Forest Farmers’ Day. The Minister of Forestry presented the awardees with a State Award certificate and a carved wooden trophy created by the artist Klaus Mosbauer. The most recent award ceremony took place in 2018 in Salzburg.
State Forest Award: New format since 2022
Due to changing challenges and new forestry policy objectives, the State Award was revised. The diverse issues surrounding climate change, biodiversity, land-use conflicts, and protection against natural hazards prompted the Ministry of Forestry to redesign the award. The first ceremony in this new format took place in autumn 2022. In 2026, it was further expanded to include two additional categories in order to cover even more diversity.