Germany is one of the countries in the General Coordinating Committee of Forest Europe. Vera Steinberg at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity shares her view on Forest Europe, Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and some facts about the German forests. Germany is a densely populated country that has nevertheless managed to sustain a large area of forest.

“It is important for us to be part of Forest Europe because Sustainable Forest Management is deeply rooted in Germany”, says Vera Steinberg. “By developing this dynamic concept further, we make sure to keep our forests fit for the future. SFM is the only way to ensure a healthy and productive forest in the long-term. We have to work together to tackle climate change, but also to adjust to the new climatic conditions.”

The forests of Germany

Germany is a densely populated country that has nevertheless managed to sustain a large area of forest. One third of Germany’s land area is covered by forest (11.5 million hectares). Since 1990, the forest area has increased by more than 200,000 hectares.

The fourth forest inventory in Germany showed:

Almost half of German forests are privately owned. The Länder (states) own 29 % of the forests, 20 % are communally owned and 3 % are owned by the federal government.

The calamities, especially the effects of the great drought in the years 2018-2021, disturbed the structure of the forests and increased the dynamics of forest conversion. Spruce suffered most and lost about 17 % of its area.

The forests in Germany have a timber stock of 3.7 billion m³, or 335 m³ per hectare. The timber increment in the German forests amounts to about 9.4 m³ per hectare and year. Compared with the 2012 National Forest Inventory, the increment declined by 16 %. This sharp drop can be attributed to the calamity-induced loss of spruce as a tree species with high increment, the trend of our forests getting older, and the long period of drought.

Every year, the forests provide around 76 million cubic metres of the precious resource of timber. Forests therefore form a significant sector and provide jobs, especially in rural areas: The forestry and wood cluster provides jobs for around 1 million people in Germany (including publishing and printing) or 820,000 (excluding publishing and printing). Wood-based value added contributes around 2.85 % (or 1.96 %) to total employment and around 2 % (or 1.4 %) to the price-adjusted gross value added of the German economy.

Forests provide also shelter to and a habitat for animals and plants: Almost 3,000 plant species grow in German forests. Biodiversity is the basis for safeguarding and provision of ecosystem services and therefore benefits society as a whole. 

Cover photo of mixed Forest in Germany: FNR/ S. Wildermann