Further development of the German Forest Accountancy Network

Background and Objective

The FAN is the most important data source for assessing the economic situation of forestry in Germany. State, corporate and private forest entprises with a forest area of more than 200 ha can participate. Forest enterprises voluntarily provide their natural and operational key data for the respective forestry year. For the participating enterprises, this is associated with a high level of effort and usually only limited added value for the individual enterprise. As a result, the number of participants has been declining for years. In order to maintain the FAN as a reliable data source, it is therefore urgently necessary to identify possibilities for simplifying the provision of data and increasing the added value of participation for the individual enterprise. This is the goal of the collaborative project. Different sustainable options for further development of the FAN are to be elaborated and analyzed in depth. The results can be used by central decision-makers at federal, state and enterprise level as a basis of information for possible courses of action for the further development of the FAN.

Target Group

Decision-makers at federal, state and enterprise level

Approach

The joint project has the character of a feasibility study.

Data and Methods

To address the research questions, we will conduct document analyses and expert interviews on the one hand and apply various statistical analysis methods on the other.

Our Research Questions

The subproject being worked on at the TI-WF is primarily concerned with the following questions:

• What information is currently needed from the FAN and what will be needed in the foreseeable future?
• Where is there potential for simplifying the survey content?
• What effects would a change in the extrapolation procedure have?

Preliminary Results

The results of the FAN are used by various user groups. The key performance indicators (KPIs) are incorporated into policy-making by providing data for reporting obligations, developing funding programs, and serving as a basis for forest policy decisions. Furthermore, the training and continuing education of forest professionals rely on the results of the FAN. Additionally, FAN results are used directly or as a reference in forest valuation, for determining contributions to the Agricultural Health Insurance Fund, and for designing and evaluating funding programs. Beyond direct usage, the various user groups are often also indirectly influenced by the FAN results. For instance, forest enterprises are frequently directly or indirectly affected by decisions made by third parties based on the FAN results.

For forest enterprises, participating in the annual FAN data collection is also directly beneficial: preparing business KPIs for FAN submission leads to a more intense engagement with their own KPIs, which is often perceived as valuable. The prepared, company-specific KPIs can also be used for reporting obligations to third parties. Moreover, the development of an enterprise’s economic situation can be well represented through the annual data submission. Furthermore, participating in the FAN offers opportunities for exchange with other forest enterprises in many federal states.

Building on the results of the user surveys, we have developed a proposal for changes to the KPI catalog. Based on the analysis of data needs, only a few starting points for reducing the scope of KPIs were identified. However, by reorganizing the survey, simplifying it, particularly in the area of queried expense KPIs, and indicating periodically collected KPIs, simplifications in data collection are expected.

Moreover, the project consortium is working on an improved overall concept for the FAN. The central goal is to increase the digitalization of data collection, analysis, and processing. This will enable further simplifications in data collection and transfer, as well as an increase in the potential benefits for forest enterprises, with a relatively constant scope of KPIs.

In the upcoming project phase, the revised survey will be tested at selected forest enterprises, and the technical overall concept will be further developed. 

Links and Downloads

Projectsite:

• Forest Accountancy Data Network of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture | Permanent task