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Wood - a natural product with an ecologic, economic and social key function in alpine regions

PROJECT ALPENFORUM +IWS:

On their meeting in Wildhaus April 6, 2001 ALPENFORUM and IWS decided to investigate the reasons for an increasing discrepancy between forest growth in alpine regions and the use of wood as an extremely important renewable source of material. Within the scope of this project, it was agreed to carry out an enquiry "ladder up" and to introduce the results as part of a new wood "profile", and to present the data in internet.

Rational and prerequisites of this project are outlined below.

The Task force welcomes additional suggestions and scientific as well as technical contributions in such fields as forestry, forest conservation, wood technology, wood ecology, innovative wood application (e. g. housing, wood construction, furniture), to be examined as potential qualified information within the framework of the intended presentation.

1. The economic and social significance of wood
  • Wood has enormous economic and social significance for mountain regions. The following examples may underline this fact: Forestry and the wood business in e. g. in Austria as well as in other alpine countries is a very important economic factor and secures a large number of jobs in alpine regions.. Austria´s forests cover 3,92 million ha (1996). Wood is Austria´s most important export product with a total value of 63,6 Billion ATS in 1996.
  • 7000 energy centres in Austria utilize wood as an energy resource, secure 22 000 jobs and cover an estimated 10 % of Austria´s energy requirements
  • In Styria alone (one of several Austrian states) approx. 5000 wood companies are in operation with 50 000 employees.
  • The government intends to combine this economic potential in a so called "wood cluster".
  • A significant part of Austrian Economy relies on medium and smaller sized companies engaged in such fields as logging, wood building and construction, wood furniture production, or the pulp and paper industry. The same accounts for large forested areas in the Swiss, Italian, French, Bavarian or Slovenian Alps.
2. The ecologic significance of wood
  • The significance of forests as filters for clean air, or water reservoir and their vital contribution to the prevention of erosion, landslides, avalanches, rock falls or inundation is self explanatory.
  • Even though the integrated CO2-balance of wood still leaves room to some speculation, it can be maintained that wood as a renewable raw material is in essence CO2 neutral.
  • Wood as a natural product can be recycled. In addition, it can also be used as a valuable energy source alternative to fossil sources.
3. Wood innovation and added value

Notwithstanding excellent prerequisites as a source of highly qualified technical material, wood has to cope with considerable handicaps.
  • Forest volume increase is higher than the increase of wood utilization. European forested surface has gone up from 175 million ha (1960) to above 200 million ha at present, whereas wood utilisation increased from 13 to 19 billion cubic metres.
  • Only 70 % of wood growth increase is used in Austria, and not more than approx. 60 % in the rest of Europe. Because of this, in Germany alone logging could be increased from 35 million cubic metres to 56 million cubic metres.
  • Within the quantities utilized, the predominant part of wood is used for low priced applications and only offers a modest added value.
  • Despite innovative progress accomplished in wood application technology, there still exists considerable prejudice against the utilization of wood as highly qualified construction material.
Efforts have already been made and are presently increased to change this situation and to promote the use of wood more effectively as a an indigenous natural raw material source and its application as a high quality type of construction material. Examples for such efforts are:
  • Introduction of Wood Certification Labels
  • "Action Holz" (wood information in Germany)
  • "Initiative Pro Holz (wood promotion in Austria)
  • "The New Wood World "(wood centre Murau, Austrian Alps)
  • Numerous conferences and workshops dealing with wood as a renewable source and its application in different fields
  • Regional, national and international organisations concentrating on wood as a renewable energy source, such as CARMEN (biomass network Würzburg). EUBIA (European Biomass Industry Assoc., Brussels), or ERMA (European Renewable Materials Assoc., Paris).
  • Several Wood Research Institutes operate within alpine regions, such as the Wood Institutes at the universities of Munich and Graz.
It must be noted, however, that, at least in Austria, there still does not exist a corresponding independent Wood university with the exception of a small technical wood institute in Judenburg, an Annex to the Joanneum Research Institute in Graz.

4. Is wood promotion properly focussed?

Taking into account the considerations elaborated under 1, 2 and 3 it seems rather surprising that apparently no organisation so far has focussed upon the economic . scientific, technical, ecologic and social significance of the natural resource wood within the framework of an integrated, modern electronic platform, optionally combined with a corresponding electronic wood market place and applying up to date digital communication and information for this purpose.

An investigation in the Internet reveals a number of organisations which present, though on a modest scale, some of the information required. Two Examples given:
  • "The global Timber e-Market" www. TimberWeb.co.uk This organisation is an e-market place seated in Kesgrave Hall, Suffolk, UK. Its internet portal is limited practically exclusively to timber (raw wood). For example, the membership list covers e.g. 11 smaller companies in Austria, and some 30 companies in Germany, mostly exporters. logging and saw mill companies, No structured information is presented on behalf of the processing industry, such as furniture producers, construction and building companies, bio-energy centres, industrial wood organisations, state and government institutions, forest and wood agencies, research and private institutions. Progress in wood technology is not commented..
  • www.HOLZ.de Portal zur Holzwirtschaft" This is a simple wood portal, which reveals an extended list of wood companies, a job trading offer, and some information on forthcoming wood events. The material presented reveals no detailed integrated insight into the present status of wood technology or relevant modern applications.
The majority of further Internet wood presentations are mainly commercially oriented. None of these offer an integrated and comprehensive overview of the ecologic, economic, technical, cultural or social potential of wood.

5. Project ALPENFORUM + IWS

5.1.Enquiry

Irrespective of a highly favourable profile as a sustainable and renewable source of qualified material as well as a source of energy, wood use presently is far lower than wood growth in alpine forests. The annual forest wood increase in Austria e. g. surmounts 30 million cubic metres, but less than 70 % of this is used. Every year, therefore, Austria's National Gross Product looses the counter value corresponding to roughly 10 million cubic metres of wood, at the same time leading to further forest over aging. The situation is similar in all other alpine countries, and particularly so in Switzerland and the Bavarian Alps. What are the reasons for this situation? Which measures are necessary to increase wood utilisation and increase added value within the wood processing chain or its use as a source of energy?

To generate appropriate answers to these questions, ALPENFORUM has designed a questionnaire which focuses on interested groups such as forest owners, foresters, forest rangers, forestry superintendents, sawmill owners, wood industry people, architects, wood technicians, wood transporters, wood commerce representatives or wood agencies as well as local or regional institutions and community or municipality representatives directly or indirectly involved in wood business.

The inquiry is being carried out between July and October 2001 in several parts of the Alps. The results will be published in the Internet as one of the first practical contributions within the scope of the forthcoming platform wood

5.2.Establishment of an innovative wood profile

A successful and practice oriented implementation of the entire project within the frame of an integrated wood profile will essentially depend on the availability of comprehensive data and up to date information. This can certainly not be accomplished by ALPENFORUM and IWS alone. It is, therefore, our intention to motivate and secure the support of stakeholders within wood research and wood business, and to encourage NGO´s, private and government organisations as well as other institutions to cooperate with us in this project.

We believe that the establishment of an integrated, digital and global wood platform will most certainly support the basic concept of sustainable development and serve the benefit of alpine economy as well as ecology, secure the existence of the beautiful mountain forests and landscape and last but not least help to stabilize the socio-economic and cultural status of mountain regions.

The broad economic, technical and social significance of wood as a natural resource in alpine regions justifies its presentation within the scope of an integrated electronic platform and market place.

The presentation will reflect aspects of the ecologic and social significance of wood and forestry, the potential of wood processing and refinement, and in particular a survey of innovative wood applications.

ALPENFORUM*, in cooperation with IWS** and Prof. Weissbach*** of the University of Applied Sciences Frankfurt, will present preliminary results of their project as a contribution to the UN International Year of the Mountain 2002.