Assessment of the sustainability of different forest management and timber use scenarios, with emphasis on climate protection and biodiversity conservation - Work package 1: Stakeholder participation process

How do we want to use our forests in the future? How are we going to manage them? For this there are many different opinions in German society. We thought it important to incorporate these opinions in our forest management and timber use scenarios.

Background and Objective

Our research findings are highly relevant for political decision-making in regard to forest management for the next ten years. Therefore, our results should be supported by stakeholders in politics, government, associations and economy. For that reason, institutions with demands on forest and timber use were involved in our project by means of surveys and discussions.

Target Group

politics, government, associations, economy

Approach

In a first step, we consulted the stakeholders in regard to their demands concerning the future forest management and wood use.
With the different stakeholders, we developed and discussed possible scenarios for future forest management and timber use in three workshops. For this purpose, the target values of the divergent claims were compared and discussed. On this basis, different forest management and timber use scenarios were created and evaluated them from an economic, environmental and social perspective.

Our Research Questions

What demands do stakeholders have in regard to the future use of forests and timber?

Results

As part of the work package 1, a stakeholder online survey was conducted in the spring of 2015. In this context, the stakeholders were asked about the following topics: 1.) future forest and timber use, 2.) timber market developments, 3.) sustainability , 4.) biodiversity protection in the forest, 5.) use of the resultsof the forest management and timber use scenarios of WEHAM 2002 and 6. ) Information needs of the stakeholders in regard to the projects results.

In addition, three stakeholder workshops were held with the following content:   

1. Workshop: Operationalization of claims to forest an timber use     
2. Workshop: Sustainability Assessment     
3. Workshop: Presentation and discussion of preliminary results.

A public closing event was held in June 2017 to present the project results.

Using the results from the surveys and the workshops we developed alternative scenarios of forest management and timber use. The scenarios are focussed on the use conflict of timber use and nature protection in the forest.

Links and Downloads

Thünen-Contact

• Seintsch, Björn Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics

Involved Thünen-Partners

• Institute of Forest Ecosystems
• Institute of Wood Research

Funding Body

• Federal Ministry of Food und Agriculture (BMEL)
  (national, öffentlich)
• Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
  (national, öffentlich)

Duration

10.2014 - 6.2017

More Information

Projekt type:
Project funding number: 28W-C-4-043-01
Funding program: Waldklimafonds (Programmbestandteil des Sondervermögens Energie- und Klimafonds)
Project status: finished

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