Wood from German forests is in demand. Builders as well as the increasing number of private fireplace owners experienced significant price increases in the past year, the raw material was no longer available everywhere at low prices, also because of the war in the Ukraine. So it is not surprising that in 2022 more wood was felled in German forests for energy production than at any time since German reunification. Environmentalists like the timber industry take a critical view of the development, albeit for different reasons.
13.8 million cubic meters of “energy wood” meant an increase of 17.3 percent compared to 2021 and an absolute high, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Friday. That was 17.6 percent of the slightly reduced total felling volume of 78.7 million cubic meters. In other words, one out of six felled trees was burned. As in previous years, more than half of the felled amount of hardwood ended up in the flames. Wood experts are assuming even higher numbers because the official statistics do not fully reflect private forests.
Industry in pincers
The timber industry complains about high prices and too little supply of hardwood. Denny Ohnsorge, general manager of the industry association HDH, sees the companies caught between politically and ecologically motivated logging bans and growing competition from the increased demand for firewood. The association complains that while the amount of available oak and beech wood in the forests is increasing, furniture and parquet factories are getting fewer and fewer raw materials. The HDH therefore rejects the construction of new wood-fired power plants without combined heat and power generation, as well as inefficient stoves in private households. However, they do not want a ban on pellet heating systems.
“We can no longer afford to burn our forests. They are already burning all over the world,” says BUND forest expert Nicola Uhde. She wants to preserve and expand the biological diversity of the forests. The felling of wood must be reduced very significantly for this, as well as the combustion both on an industrial scale and in private households. The BUND demands a felling moratorium for older mixed beech forests. Uhde says: “We have to put an end to the fairy tale that burning wood is climate-neutral. The moment it is burned, the CO2 that has been bound for decades is released in one fell swoop.”
About a third of Germany is covered with forest. In its forest accounts, the Federal Statistical Office estimated the value of the standing wood stock from 3.8 billion cubic meters to almost 52 billion euros. In its “Forest Strategy 2050”, the federal government assumes that under sustainable conditions, 73 million cubic meters of wood can be felled annually.
Damaged wood due to drought is added
The fact that the current felling of 78.7 million cubic meters is slightly higher is solely due to the extensive forest damage in recent years. In 2022, the so-called “damaged wood” accounted for well over half of all logging, at 44.7 million cubic meters. Spruce monocultures in particular have been heavily attacked by bark beetles in the drought of recent years.
As a result, more than two thirds (67.1 percent) of the felled volume was accounted for by softwood such as spruce, fir and Douglas fir. In the two previous years, softwood accounted for more than 70 percent due to the even higher incidence of damaged wood. The Thünen Institute for Forest Ecosystems expects a further increase in infestation and reduced ecosystem functions in the forest due to the large areas affected.
The bare slopes in the Harz Mountains and other low mountain ranges must be reforested with more climate-stable tree species than mixed forests, says the timber industry. The President of the German Wood Industry Council (DWHR), Erwin Taglieber, recently called for a “change in the times for wood too” and means by this means less complicated access to domestic wood. “We suffer from excessive bureaucracy and sometimes also from a culture that prevents the use of wood.”
The Federal Environment Agency, on the other hand, explains that sustainable forest management is now understood to mean much more than securing the quantities of wood. Additional goals include improving the climate impact of forests, preserving ecosystems and protecting soil and water resources. The near-natural forests required for this can only be found on a good third of the German forest area. In the Forest Strategy 2050, the government assumes that the proportion of deciduous trees will increase as a result of climate-related forest conversion, which cannot compensate for the loss of usable conifers. These would increasingly have to be imported.
