Forests and Society

A collage shows a sign for hiking trails, pink and white flowering foxglove in a clearing, and a floodplain forest.

The societal demands on forests are diverse, almost as diverse as society itself.

Forests shall supply timber, pure water and clean air. Forests shall be species rich and provide a place for recreation and deliver all this in a sustainable way. Our research team conducts economic evaluation and sustainability assessments of forests. We analyze and assess cost and benefits as well as sustainability of the forest’s services.

Sustainability Assessment

Decisions about forest use always have environmental, economic and social impacts. We develop and apply indicators to measure these impacts.

Economic Evaluation

Forests serve more than just timber production. They provide forest owners and society with a wide range of additional ecosystem services, including recreation, landscape aesthetics, climate regulation, water supply, and nature conservation. As most of these services are considered public goods, their monetary value is not reflected in market prices. However, this value can be determined using specialised methods from environmental economics.

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Institute of

WF Forestry

Forests and Society

Sustainability Assessment

Economic Evaluation

Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute

Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries