Project goals
Forest enterprises and forest associations provide numerous socially relevant services through the management of the forest ecosystem. The wide range of services, which are traditionally described as production, protective and recreational function of the forest, is now summarized and recognized under the term ecosystem services (ES).
Global responsibility for climate protection and the applicable conventions, European directives and national laws and regulations must be underpinned by additional incentive systems in order to ensure their acceptance and practical implementation in forest enterprises. As potential business models show, the provision of common goods and public services for forest enterprises must be associated with appropriate service fees and direct operational benefits. In this research project, the demand for ES of forests is to be identified using suitable case studies and surveys. This should serve as a starting point for the design of corresponding performance-oriented silvicultural treatment programs.
The investigations will primarily focus on the ES wood production, biodiversity and nature conservation, forest aesthetics and recreation and the management of water resources in forests. Moreover, the aim of the project is the stand and business-related implementation of corresponding ES within the framework of operational planning, so that these can be implemented directly through measures of economic execution in the forest enterprise. Such a site-specific management of ES is the requirement for an evaluation and targeted marketing of individual ES elements to local and regional user groups.
Management concept for the implementation of an ecosystem services (ÖSL) oriented management
A catalog of certain criteria related to ES (to be developed as part of the project) will be tested on indicator sites (Weiserflächen) with regard to practicability and validity. A differentiated picture of the investigated areas results from this recording of the characteristics of the ES shown in the catalog. However, this picture initially provides a mosaic-like representation of the criteria taken into account. In order to be able to see this mosaic in an overall picture, a total value is derived from the individual characteristics with the help of the multi-criteria evaluation.