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Droughts, storms, snow pressure, and bark beetles – the huge amounts of wood damaged in recent years brought difficulties for the domestic timber market and prices fell to an all-time low. Starting next week, forest owners can apply for funding at waldfonds.at. The jackpot is 200 million euros. This was announced yesterday by the Minister of Agriculture, Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP). The maximum amount of financing: 200,000 euros.
“This is an investment for the next generations,” said Köstinger (ÖVP). Intact forests are the best natural air conditioning. He also called on the industry to buy more damaged domestic wood and not buy abroad at lower prices.
Funding is available for six areas: reforestation and maintenance measures after damaging events (€ 80 million), regulation of tree species composition to develop climate-friendly forests (28 million), loss of value due to beetle (60 million), establishment of facilities for wet and dry storage of damaged wood (nine million), debarking and other preventive forest protection measures (16 million) and forest fire prevention measures (six million euros). Among other things, 150 million euros will go to research (wood gas, climate-friendly forests …). So there is a total of 350 million in the forest fund. The president of the Chamber of Agriculture, Josef Moosbrugger, speaks of a “milestone”.
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“This has made it possible to create a sustainable arc from sourcing long-term raw materials to using wood,” said Herbert Jöbstl, president of the timber industry association. Gradual implementation will not only help forests and industry, it will also be good for the economy and climate protection. Large landowners also responded: “Every euro in this package is well invested, in the future of forests, our climate and our grandchildren,” said Felix Montecuccoli, chairman of the Land & Forest Companies Austria interest group. “These huge amounts of damaged wood show the serious effects of climate change on our forests and should be a warning sign for us,” said Bauernbund President Georg Strasser.
The environmental protection organization Greenpeace as well as WWF and BirdLife Austria welcomed the species protection measures of the forest fund.
