Organization of Forestry
The Federal Law on Forests and the States Law on Forests guarantee the sustainable forest management. In Germany there are: State forests, community forests and private forests.
In 2009 the annual logging in Germany was more than 48 million m3 (without bark). In Germany the per capita consumption of wood amounts to 1.15 m3. In most Federal states state forest is managed by regional forest offices. Forest offices are responsible for forest district of about 1,500 to 3.000 hectares which are managed by foresters. The main task of the forest offices is sustainable forest management which includes production, harvesting and marketing of wood and non-wood products and at the same time guarantees the protection and recreational function of the forest in these areas.
In Germany about 1.2 million people work for the forest, for instance, in forest offices, in research institutes, in sawmills and in the paper industry. These people are organised in various professional and interest groups such as Bund Deutscher Forstleute (BDF) and Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald (SDW). The SDW was founded in 1947 and is the oldest citizens' initiative in Germany. In Germany there are four Universities where we can study Forest Sciences. There are also five Universities of Applied Sciences where we can study Forestry. There the education is more practice-oriented.
German forest as a romantic landscape was already described from the beginning of the 19th century. We can read about it in poems, legends and fairy tales, like “Little Brother & Little Sister”. Whereas in those days Hansel and Gretel got lost in the dark forest, nowadays forest is an ideal place for people’s health, recreational activities and educational activities such as Forest Education and forest kindergardens. Today Forest education is one of the main tasks of a German forester.
German forest as a romantic landscape was already described from the beginning of the 19th century. We can read about it in poems, legends and fairy tales, like “Little Brother & Little Sister”. Whereas in those days Hansel and Gretel got lost in the dark forest, nowadays forest is an ideal place for people’s health, recreational activities and educational activities such as Forest Education and forest kindergardens. Today Forest education is one of the main tasks of a German forester.