Management and marketing of forest ecosystem services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (ÖSL-MV)

Ecosystem services describe various benefits that people derive from ecosystems. Forestry is a form of land use that deals with the provision of these services from forest ecosystems. Forestry operations can promote the provision of certain services through the management of forest ecosystems, for example through tree species selection and management interventions or regeneration methods. By influencing the forest structure, for example, the desired timber qualities and quantities can be achieved in defined periods of time or protection against natural hazards such as avalanches can be achieved. However, the services demanded by society go far beyond the supply of raw materials and protection.
The demands on the forest ecosystem are changing and becoming increasingly complex.
Forest enterprises must react to the social demands placed on the forest ecosystem and ensure that they provide certain services through their operational activities. Knowledge of the interdependencies between forest structures and different services as well as possible synergies and conflicts between services demanded by society is crucial.

The aim of the ÖSL-MV project is therefore to develop demand-oriented concepts for the provision, management and marketing of ecosystem services in the forest enterprises of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, primarily using the example of the ecosystem services of recreation and biodiversity, which have received less attention to date. In order to obtain operationalizable concepts, structural-performance relationships are to serve as the basis for treatment concepts. Structures are defined as delimitable parts of forest ecosystems that can be treated in silvicultural terms. This has the advantage that certain structures can be developed and treated in a targeted manner.

To ensure direct practical relevance, the treatment concepts are developed and adapted using the specific example of the cooperation partner forestry office Billenhagen, representing the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state forestry. In addition, regional interest groups from nature conservation and tourism as well as private forest owners will be involved in order to ensure that the concepts are practical and applicable. The project results are to be bundled as recommendations for action and thus become applicable for forestry practice.

Represented by the Chair of Forest Management Planning, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Silviculture at TU Dresden and the Chair of Environmental, Energy and Resource Economics at HWR Berlin, the topics in the project are to be dealt with comprehensively and in an interdisciplinary manner. Within the project, the silviculture working group will focus on investigating the relationships between forest structure and the ecosystem service of recreation. To this end, in addition to an extensive literature review, intensive studies are being carried out on the relationship between silviculturally initiated structures and local and regional recreational preferences.