The forest is the bulwark against climate change

Active Forest Management as the Key

The impacts of climate change are clearly noticeable: severe weather events, heavy rainfall, storms, and periods of drought are posing major challenges this summer for forest managers, farmers, and emergency services alike. On its own, the forest can only adapt very slowly to climate change and the new conditions. Active, sustainable forest management supports it in this process, and vulnerable stands can be transformed into species-rich, structurally diverse, and thus resilient mixed forests. This is also the order of the day at the Austrian Federal Forests (Website in German only)

Active management also provides the renewable raw material wood, which substitutes energy-intensive and fossil resources. One cubic meter of wood binds up to one tonne of CO₂ equivalent. Long-lasting wood products therefore act as carbon storage — like a second forest. Sustainable and innovative uses of wood are promoted and supported through the Austrian Wood Initiative, as part of the Forest Fund. For example, public buildings constructed from wood are funded through the CO₂ bonus. So far, 134 funding projects with a total installed wood volume of around 30 million kilograms have been approved, and over 53,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent have been stored long-term in buildings.

The Forest Fund as an Investment in the Future

Support on the ground is of enormous importance for forest conversion: around 40 percent of the total investment volume of the Forest Fund, endowed with 450 million euros, is available for measures such as reforestation after damage events or adaptation to climate change. The Forest Fund’s research measures cover a broad spectrum of disciplines, ranging from genetics and silviculture to wood research and climate-resilient forests. In the Vienna Woods, a Forest Fund research project is underway focusing on the main tree species, the beech. The study examines how well beech will cope with increasing periods of drought in the future. In addition, the effects of mixing in climate-resilient tree species under various climate scenarios are being investigated.

Forest conversion requires active and collective action and can only succeed through cooperation with forest managers and the entire value chain. However, regulatory pressure from the EU on agriculture and forestry is increasingly threatening the long-established practice of sustainable forest management in Austria.