Storms, heat and pests have severely affected the German forest.

At 60.1 million cubic meters, there was almost five times more damaged wood in the past year than in 2015. The Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday.

The bark beetle caused particularly severe damage.

Weakened by the dry and hot weather, conifers such as spruces, firs and pines in particular were unable to withstand the pest, which was only a few millimeters in size.

Overall, insect infestation was responsible for 72 percent of all damaged wood in 2020.

Wind and storms accounted for 17 percent.

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An area the size of Saarland has been destroyed by the extreme weather of recent years and has to be reforested. "The German forest is the first victim of climate change," says Irene Seling, General Manager of the Association of German Forest Owners' Associations (AGDW). The situation is catastrophic: four out of five trees are now showing signs of damage.

The fact that a large amount of damaged wood suddenly floods onto the market means economic losses for the forest owners. Anyone who found a buyer for their damaged wood in the past year could consider themselves lucky if the price covered the costs. One might think that the recent rise in timber prices will ease forest owners. The corona pandemic is pushing the building boom favored by the low interest rates. And not just in this country. In the spring, the price had risen above all because of the strong demand from America. At its peak, almost 900 euros per cubic meter were called for sawn timber on the market. In the meantime, the price has fallen again, but is still significantly higher than before the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

However, the forest owners hardly receive any of this, complains Georg Schirmbeck, President of the German Forestry Council (DFWR): “The price for wood on the Waldstrasse is disastrous. But once the tree has passed the saw, prices suddenly go through the roof. ”The sawmills and dealers in particular would fill their pockets. For their damaged wood, German forest owners would get around 30 euros per cubic meter - not much more than a year ago. After all, lumber in the best category achieves between 70 and 120 euros per cubic meter.

For many forest owners, however, this is little consolation.

Because they are still busy removing the damaged wood from their forests.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, damaged wood accounted for three quarters of the total logging of 80.4 million cubic meters last year.

For comparison: In 2015, the proportion of damaged wood in the total logging of 55.6 million cubic meters was only 23 percent.

Schirmbeck does not consider the high price discounts for damaged wood to be justified.

Damaged wood is darker than normal wood, but it can be used for building a roof structure without any problems.

The sawmills could therefore pay for the wood well, while the forest owners went away empty-handed.

“This is trickery,” he says.

There are still 30 million cubic meters of damaged wood in the forests

AGDW managing director Seling does not expect the situation to improve quickly: “An enormous amount of wood came together. There are still around 30 million cubic meters of damaged wood in the forests. ”In addition, the market is dominated by some large sawmills, which further worsens the negotiating position of the forest owners. Ultimately, it is to be expected that, as a result of climate change, there will also be considerable damage and large quantities of damaged wood in the forests in the next few years. “Spring and summer were comparatively wet and cool this year. But that will be an exceptional year, ”says Seling.

However, such prospects do not discourage DFWR President Schirmbeck.

"I am optimistic that we can get the situation under control," he says.

He himself has already planted new trees in his forest, and many other places are being reforested.

The conversion to better adapt the forests to the changing climatic conditions is in full swing - and has been for many years.

Because wood is a slowly growing raw material, the forest owners face challenges: “The problem is that nobody knows exactly what the climate will be like in a few decades.

We therefore have to test different trees according to the trial-and-error principle, ”explains Seling.

She warns against banning conifers completely from the forests.

Because light coniferous wood will also be needed in the future, for example for building construction.