Teaching Module

Forestry in Changing Societies in Europe

Country Report: Austria

Compiled by Stefan Czamutzian, University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna

1 The Country

1.1 Nature: Topography

The Republic of Austria is a landlocked country in central Europe. Extending about 760 km lengthwise from east to west and almost 300 km north to south the total land area is 83,858 km². With this size it is one of the smaller countries in Europe. The country’s westernmost third only consists of a narrow corridor between 32 and 60 kilometres between Germany and Italy. Austria has borders with eight countries. Starting in the north and going clockwise, these are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany. The former four belonged to the Eastern block until the fall of the "Iron Curtain" and Austria traditionally has been a link between the "East" and the "West". The most important river is the Danube running through the north of this country. Quite a few important cities, among them also the capital Vienna, which is excessively large for this small country, are located on this river.

Nature: Geology, climate, soils, vegetation

Austria is characterised by the Eastern Alps dominating almost two thirds of this country because of which it is often referred to as the "Alpine Republic". Covering exactly 62% of the territory the Alps are sharply structured in zones running in an east-west direction. The narrow northern boundary zone of the Alps ("Flysch" zone) mainly consists of soft sandstone, marl and agrillaceous schist. Rounded peaks and soft slopes covered with mixed forests and meadows are typical. Adjoining to the south are the Northern Limestone Alps (Kalkalpen). Consisting of permeable limestone and dolomite they reach heights of up to 3,000 metres and show the typical forms such as steep slopes, narrow valleys and abruptly rising steep walls. The highest peaks are covered by glaciers and scarcity of water in regions of karstic plateaus is typical. The lower parts (up to 2,000 metres) are covered densely with spruce forests. The following lower "greywacke" zone (Grauwackenzone) (slate and shale ranges) is suited for mountain pasturage and is of economical interest due to its mineral deposits such as magnesite, iron or copper. The Central Alps (Zentralalpen) build the band further south consisting of hard gneiss and crystalline shales. Austrias highest summits and most glacierous regions are to be found in the western part of the Alps peaking at 3797 metres (Grossglockner) whereas the eastern part is lower, intersected by many basins, and predominantly covered with forests. The Southern Limestone Alps (Südlichen Kalkalpen) only reach Austria in the very south. The climate type in the Alpine regions (Alpine climate) shows several regional variations according to the altitude. Generally speaking, summers are cool and rather short, in higher areas snow cover may stay for up to four months of the year. The "Föhn" wind is a typical feature of this climate: it is a dry and warm wind usually blowing from the south and raising temperatures.

Only slightly more than one quarter of the federal territory is flat or moderately hilly curving around the Alpine "tongue" from the north-east to the east; these are the lowlands and hills of north-eastern and eastern Austria. In this area forestry plays a minor role as this is Austria’s most intensively cultivated agricultural region. On fertile brown and black soils cereals and vegetables are grown. The Pannonic climate in this area – little precipitation and hot summers – is also ideal for growing wine of high quality mainly in extensive vineyards situated south-east of Vienna, on the hills of the "Wine District" (Weinviertel) covered with fertile loess and being situated in the north-east, and in the Danube Valley (starting approximately 120 kilometres west of Vienna). A natural vegetation of oak and hornbeam can be found in the lowlands and plains, in the hilly regions mixed forests stands with different pine species and deciduous trees dominate. The south–east is subject to a more sub-Mediteranean (Illyric) influence and sweet chestnut as well as deciduous forests are found. As this climate favours agriculture fruits and maize are grown on small scale. Along the river Danube, alluvial deciduous forests (Auwald) are typical and regular inundations take place. On alluvial soils, ranging from gravel to sandy forms, poplars and willows grow close to the water; going further the vegetation changes to deciduous stands with oak, hazel and other foliage trees.

The remaining tenth of the territory of Austria is the Bohemian Granite Massif in the north-west, a medium upland (up to 1,300 metres). It is part of the central European intermediate climate dictating the weather conditions there as well as in the Alpine Foreland (Alpenvorland) – this is where the Alps start rising. Predominately westerly winds carry humid Atlantic air masses and this results in abundant precipitation - especially in the west and decreasing eastwards - at all seasons at comparatively mild temperatures. But in the Granite upland the climate is rougher and cooler; the stony soils yield rather modest crops in both, agriculture and forestry. In its eastern parts the conditions for agriculture are better and potatoes, rye and oats are grown. This region is densely wooded with mixed stands in the lower regions and spruce stands dominating the higher points.

Society: Population, economy

Austria is inhabited by slightly more than 8 million people (exactly 8,046,500). This gives a population density of 96/km² , which is low in central European terms and reflects the Alpine character of this country. The distribution of the population is – according to the geographic conditions – very uneven. Roughly two thirds of the total population live in the Danube valley and the Austrian lowlands. The biggest concentration is Vienna (about 1.5 million inhabitants) and its environs. Within the Alpine regions, higher population concentrates in valleys (such as the Inn valley in Tyrol in the West of Austria or the basins in the eastern Alps). Major Austrian cities are also situated there, such as the capital cities Innsbruck, Graz or Klagenfurt. The second biggest city is Graz.. Apart from such places the Alpine region is quite scarcely populated.

Tourism is the main source of income in Austria. It is well known for its skiing resorts in the western Alps, mainly in the federal provinces Tyrol and Salzburg (both the city and the province have the same name). But the country is also a popular place for spending the summer holidays; in the Alps tourists go hiking, walking, mountain biking or take part in adventure sports such as paragliding and rafting. The ones who want to relax, sunbathe or do some water sports chose one of the numerous lakes in Carinthia in the south, in the "Salzkammergut" in the north-east or decide to visit the biggest lake of Austria, the "Neusiedlersee". It is located at the Hungarian border, only 1 – 1.5 metres deep and is a paradise for sailors and surfers. Another important economy is agriculture: production on a large scale can only be found in the plains in the east ("Marchfeld"). Crops such as cereals, vegetables and fruits are grown in the east where the soil and climate conditions are ideal for agriculture. In the Alps livestock farming with beef cattle and dairy production is predominant. As with agriculture, forestry is also mainly done on a small scale which will be discussed later in several chapters. Industry is located around Vienna and other cities such as Linz; both of which lie at the river Danube and have the biggest Austrian ports. Another big industrial zone is in the federal province Styria which, in addition, is economically significant due to the mineral deposits such as magnesite, copper or iron ore, the former is among the biggest world-wide. Industry ranges from heavy industry to the production of high-tech articles such as parts for machines or engines and also includes chemical and textile fibre production. Due to its many rivers and mountainous lakes, Austria is a net producer of "clean" electrical energy mainly produced in small to large water power plants. This energy is also exported. There is no nuclear power plant in operation. Figures about the forest industries are given in the Chapter 3 dealing with forest economics.

Political structure and society

Austria is a Federal Republic (Bundesrepublik) and consists of nine federal provinces (Länder). According to the Constitution of 1920, amendment 1929, the head of the state is the President of the Federal Republic (Bundespräsident) who is elected every 6 years directly by the citizens of Austria and has mainly representative and administrative functions. The parliament consists of 183 representatives of the various political parties (Nationalrat). This is the legislative institution together with the 58 representatives of the federal provinces (Bundesrat) which only has the power of veto. At the moment five political parties are represented in parliament i. e. at least 5% of all voting citizens gave them their vote. The Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) is the biggest one with more than 35% and is in coalition with a Christian-democratic party, the People’s Party (ÖVP). They together form the government, the Federal Chancellor is a member of the stronger SPÖ. Each federal province has a governor; the function of whom, the role of federal and state law as well as the administrative system is more deeply discussed in Chapter 4.1. Since January 1995 Austria has been a member of the European Union.

The majority of the Austrian population is German speaking and Roman Catholic. There are, however, minorities in the south and east of Austria.

2 Forest resources and their uses

2.1 Forest history

In the times towards the end of the glacial period (11000 - 10000 B. C.) the vegetation comprised mainly of bushes but in some regions pines and in the Alpine forlands also birches developed. In the beginning of the post glacial period different pine species according to the altitude and birches were the main species, in the southern regions the spruce appeared. The climate of the Boreal (about 6000 B. C.) favoured the expansion of spruce covering most of the Alpine areas. In the lower parts mixed stands of oak and pine dominated. During the Atlantikum (4000 B. C.) first mixed stands comprising of spruce, fir and beech developed in the southern and eastern parts of the Alps peaking in the Subboreal time (1500 B. C.); during this period the forest line reached highest levels with spruce, fir and cembra pine in high elevations. In the south-east, hornbeam appeared and mixed with oak, beech and, in some regions, fir. Up to the present, the share of fir has decreased drastically, also the beech has gone back whereas spruce expanded. Before the strong influence of man changed the naturally developed forest zoning Austrian forests could be described as follows: a broad spruce zone in the inner Alps, a belt of spruce-fir-beech stands on the Alpine boarder line with a narrow band of spruce-fir forest in between. In the lower regions, oak and hornbeam stands dominate; pine and larch is mixed in the forests according to the altitude.

2.2 Forest ownership

The Austrian forest is primarily in private hands. Roughly 80% is private forest and managed on a small-scale structure; more than 213,000 silviculturists (often farmers who also own small forest land) manage enterprises of less than 200 hectares forest area, but this accounts for almost half of all Austrian forests. In 1993, about 140,000 forest enterprises in the size class 1 - 5 hectares and 57,000 enterprises in the size class 5 - 20 were recorded; both account for one quarter of the total forest land. About one third of the entire forest area is looked after by major forest enterprises. The remaining 20% are public forests, more than three quarters of which are in the hands of the Federal Austrian Forests; the rest comprises of provincial and communal forest land.

Figure 1: Forest ownership in percent of forest area (grey = private forest; black = public forest) (BMLF 1998b)

2.3 Land use and forest resources

2.3.1 Global overview of land use

Austria is a land of forests - after Sweden and Finland it is the third most densely wooded country in the EU. Of the 8.39 million hectares total federal territory of Austria almost half - exactly 47% - is covered with forest; this means 3.92 million hectares, in total, or approximately 0.5 ha of forest per capita. One third (33%) is agriculturally used land, 11% is either alpine meadows or unproductive areas (such as the many glaciers in western Austria); 7% is developed land such as settlements or transportation systems, and 2% is covered with water. A regional development survey over the time period between 1975 and 1996 shows a decline in agriculturally used land (-9%) whereas developed land and forest land are increasing (+17% and +7% respectively). The annually growth of forest area is 7,700 hectares at present.

2.3.2 Extent and distribution of the forests

The forests in Austria are not evenly distributed over the federal territory. The mountainous slopes in the Alpine areas and in the highlands - especially in central and southern Austria - are most densely covered with forests, also the granite uplands in the north. Areas particularly poor in forest land lie in the east where agriculture is the main form of land use. The forest cover in the high mountains in the western parts of the country is lower. In addition to the altitude, intensive pastures are responsible for this fact. The forest line, the border of the dense forest, in the Central Alps runs at 1,900 metres above sea level, in the limestone Alps some 200 metres lower. The tree line lies about 300 metres above the forest line.

2.3.3 Tree species origin and distribution

In Austrian forests coniferous trees dominate. Their share (77.3%) has always been high due to the predominance of mountainous regions. For economic reasons, however, it was increased in the past by the planting of spruce and pine. By far the most important species is spruce (Picea abies) with a total share of 61.8%. The most frequent deciduous tree is beech (Fagus sylvatica) with a share of almost 10%. A detailed overview of the tree species in Austrian exploitable forests (about 85% of the total forest) is given in Table 1:

Table 1: Tree species in Austrian exploitable forests by forest area in % (Source BMLF 1998)

The above species are native to Austrian forests but in the past non-native tree species were also introduced. Examples would be the Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and other fir species or poplar species which are commercially grown. Their share is, however, very small. In total, approximately 80 tree species can be found and the forest management distinguishes between coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests. In the plains and on hilly ground, foliage forests dominate; along big rivers (such as the river Danube), alluvial forests are found where inundations are a regular phenomenon. In mountainous regions, coniferous species form the forests with spruce and cembra pine growing up to the forest line and tree line respectively.

2.3.4 Total growing stock, growth and total fellings

The total growing stock in Austrian exploitable forests is almost one billion cubic metres (exactly 987 million cm³). With about 295 cubic metres standing timber per hectare, Austria has one of the largest growing stocks in the EU. The annual increment is 27.3 million cubic metres (8.2 cm³ per ha). As only 19.5 million cubic metres are felled annually, almost one third or 29% of the increment remains in the forest.

2.3.5 Forest threats

Various threats cause damage to Austrian forests every year and keep silviculturists and forest managers busy. They can be classified in biotic threats (animals, diseases), abiotic threats (wind, snow/hoar-frost, falling rocks) and human threats (pollution, recreation, harvesting damages). These threats are dealt with in this order.

Austrian forests are the habitat for a variety of animals, many of them hunted by man. Unilateral promotion of game types appealing to the hunter combined with the disruption and narrowing of game habitats often due to recreation such as skiing is one of the biggest problems for Austrian forestry. Problems are browsing of regenerating saplings mainly by roe deer and chamois and fraying of young or medium-aged stands by stag. According to the regeneration survey of the Austrian Forest Inventory 1992/96, 85% of all regeneration areas show signs of browsing jeopardising a mixed regeneration, particularly as firs and deciduous tree species are preferred by game. In some cases sufficient regeneration is prevented at all causing severe problems particularly in protected forests. Forest authorities report that in about 1/5 of forest areas, regeneration is impossible without protective measures (such as fencing) against browsing; fraying damage has been assessed on 8% of all trees in Austrian production forests, causing rotting of the stem and a destabilisation of the stands. 10% of forest land are pastures and animals browse at forest plants and cause damage to roots and soil by trampling. These problems are outlined in Chapter 5. Another threat for Austrian forests is insects. Between 1990 and 1997 a volume of about ten million cubic metres of damaged wood was caused by bark beetles, mainly by the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) and by the six-toothed spruce bark beetle (Ips chalcographus). The infestations occur predominately in hot and dry summers and often after abiotic catastrophes such as thunderstorms. Victims are mainly sole and artificially planted spruce stands below 800 metres in the Alpine forelands but also healthy and natural stands in higher altitudes have already been infested. Apart from these two beetles, various other insects cause regional damage to forests. These include the European spruce saw fly, the silver leaf roller and various moths. Different types of fungi cause rotting or discoloration and as a consequence a devaluation of the timber; one worth mentioning is the annosus root rot (Heterobasidion annosum) accessing spruces from the root system and hollowing the trunk from the inside. Oaks, especially in the east of Austria, are dying to an alarming extent due to an unknown cause; although a combination of weakening circumstances such as dryness and frost combined with biotic factors are believed to be the reason for the "dying of oaks".

Thunderstorms, snow, hoar-frost and falling rocks are the main abiotic threats occurring regularly in Austria. In 1990, a catastrophic thunderstorm blew down or broke approximately half of the average annual felling quantity of Austria. Landslides and also heavy loads of ice and snow are hazards for forests particularly in the mountainous regions in western and central Austria. An average of 27% (within the last ten years) of the total annual timber harvest was damaged by wind or snow. Almost 17% of all trunks in protected forests show signs of damage caused by falling rocks indicating clearly the important role of the forest.

Austria has strict laws on permissible pollution for all kinds of sources. Since the discussion of "forest decline" in the 80’s a lot has been done on the environmental sector. Due to its position in the middle of Europe, deposits of various kinds of "foreign" sources come down on Austrian soil: this may include pollution caused by transit-traffic through Austria (especially from north to south) as well as pollution from other countries carried over long distances. Measurable effects on the forest ecosystem are regional high levels of heavy metals, yellowing of leaves or even defoliation. Roughly one third of all Austrian trees show visible top defoliation with fir, pine and oak being particularly affected. Pollution is also seen as one of the reasons for the "die-off" of single tree species (see "dying oak" above). Austria is a popular country for tourists and well-known for its skiing resorts. But also in summer, Alpine and other regions are frequented and the sports such as mountain biking, hiking, paragliding are a burden for the forests; game is disturbed permanently and takes refuge in still smaller areas where browsing and fraying destabilises stands particularly in highly sensitive protection forests. In addition, skiers outside the marked pistes damage roots and young trees. Further damage is caused by foresters and forest workers themselves: Almost 7% of trunks in production forests show bark damage caused by timber harvesting. As harvesting techniques are getting more and more sophisticated this kind of damage should decrease in future.

2.4 Silviculture

In Austria various kinds of silvicultural methods in regeneration, tending and harvesting are used. Table 2 gives a general overview of the silvicultural management methods:

Table 2: Silvicultural management methods in Austria (after Frank et al.)

Protected forests play an important role in Austria, 755,000 hectares are identified as such forests, 38% of which are with commercial yield. Protection in this context means that these forests need to be protected (according to the Austrian Forest Act) and therefore require special treatment to fultil their function; see definitions in Chapter 2.5.4. Although regulations exist on the management of protected forests, the Austrian Forestry Inventory proves rather unsatisfactory for those sensitive stands. Decreasing stability, overmature stands and lack of regeneration require effective measures. This problem will be discussed in Chapter 5. It has to be pointed out that in Austria silvicultural management is done on a small-scale basis; this is also true for removals as due to the strict forest law clearcuts bigger than 2 hectares are prohibited and for clearcuts extending 500 m² a permission of the forest authority is required. Roughly three quarters of the felling quantity is made up of mature trees, the rest arises from tending such as thinning.

Table 3: Removals 1992/96 (after Schwarzbauer, undated)

This small-scale management with a high proportion of small-scale removals and regeneration fellings has also an impact on regeneration. An increasing emphasis is put on natural regeneration which is already taken into consideration when harvesting. While artificial reforestation with coniferous trees was the main "regeneration" method in the past, now the natural regeneration is increasingly taking place in Austrian forests. This also has a positive ecological impact as the area of mixed and deciduous stands is permanently increasing. In the 1990s, the forest comprised of 24% mixed forests, 11% deciduous and 65% coniferous forests. This is a development in favour of mixed stands. Foresters and silviculturists use methods of natural regeneration and work increasingly towards mixed stands - where natural - for reasons of stability, amelioration of soils and diversity. In 1996 the age distribution was as follows: 40% up to 40 years, 24% 41 to 80 years; 8 % brushwood, the rest was older than 80 years.

2.5 Forest production

In Austria, forests do not provide only timber, but a wider variety of products and services. Due to the many mountainous regions, it often has a protective function, too. The main use of forests, however, is for timber production which will be shown in this chapter.

2.5.1 Harvesting systems, accessibility

Since Austria is a mountainous country and forests expand from lowlands up to the forest line, many different harvesting systems are employed according to the accessibility. As in Austria many farmers own small forest land, this ownership has also an impact on the harvesting methods due to the machinery available.

Depending on surface conditions and accessibility, timber harvesting is either done with harvesting machines or manually with chainsaws. The transportation of the timber to the forest road is also done according to above factors; Figure 2 shows the methods and their relative importance.

Figure 2: Methods of timber transportation from felling site to forest roads (Forest and Wood in Austria 1998)

Most important is hauling. As a very dense network of forest roads and logging trails exists in Austrian commercial forests, this is a very economic method. Cable yarders are employed mainly in the mountainous regions inaccessible for vehicles. The reason for the rather high proportion of logging by tractors is found in the characteristics of the ownership: farmers who own woodlands and manage their forest adapt their tractors for forest work such as timber harvesting. Other transportation includes transport by helicopter, horses or special log-lines.

2.5.2 Timber uses

Austria has a well developed timber and timber processing industry. Even roundwood is imported to cover the demand of sawmilling, paper and board, and wood based panels industries. These semi-final and final products are exported to a large extent. The uses of timber in the various industries in the national context are discussed more deeply in Chapter 3.1.

2.5.3 Non-timber forest products

Apart from timber, Austrian forests provide other products and services, too. Some of them may not be seen directly as non-timber forest products, like hunting; in this chapter, however, non-timber products somehow related to forests are listed contributing to the income of the forest owner. Other services and functions are dealt with in Chapter 2.5.4.

A very important income for forest owners is hunting. According to Austrian law, the owner of forest land also owns the rights for hunting in his forests. Depending on the federal province (hunting falls under the jurisdiction of the federal provinces, so there are nine different hunting laws in force), a hunting area has to exceed a defined size limit to be counted as a "hunting district". These hunting districts can be rented as a whole to hunters or permission for a certain number of animals is sold. Small forest owners have to put their areas together to reach a hunting district whereas big forest enterprises often divide their property into several districts. Not everyone is allowed to hunt; a hunting license is required. Approximately 110,000 annual hunting licenses were issued in 1993/94, which indicates the high popularity.

The selling of Christmas trees or income gained from touristic activities might also be of interest in particular regions.

2.5.4 Forest functions

In mountainous and touristic countries like Austria, forests fulfil a variety of functions. The protective function is most significant in the Alpine region which would be ininhabitable without forests protecting from landslides or avalanches. Before talking about this in more depth, three terms have to be explained.

It has to be pointed out that the term "protection" in connection with forests is unclear, as in Austria it comprises two different aspects: protection by the forest and protection for the forest. The former refers to the protective function, the protection of villages, of the population against falling rocks or landslides by the forest. This land use term is defined in the Regulation on the Forest Development Plan. The latter meaning - the protection for the forest - is defined in the Forest Act; in this case protected forests are sites endangered by erosive powers such as wind or water and therefore require a particular treatment ensuring the protection of soil, vegetation and reforestation. Sites are defined in the Forest Act which are automatically protected forests; special regulations for these kinds of forests exist. This paper follows the literature (Weiß 1998) and therefore the terms "protective forest" (protection by the forest) and "protected forest" (forest needs to be protected) will be used.

The Austrian Forest Act also formulates another term for forests in connection with protection: Ban forest (protection forest by decree). Ban forests are defined as "Forests which serve to protect man, human settlements and installations or cultivated soil from certain dangers as well as forests whose beneficial effects are more important than their economic effects, shall be protected by decree, provided that the national economic or other public interest to be protected (purpose of protection) proves to be more significant than the disadvantages connected with the limitation of forest management due to the formal decree proclamation as ban forest" (§ 27 sec. 1, Austrian Forest Act 1975, amendment 1987; in Frank et. al.). A purpose of protection, particular measures or prohibitions laid down by the authority, and a beneficiary of the protection who has to bear the cost, are provided for by decree in the case of ban forests.

According to the Austrian Forest Act of 1975 (amendment 1987) four key functions of the forests are distinguished:

• Production: the economic function, i. e. in particular the economically sustainable production of the resource wood
• Protection: the protective function, i. e. in particular the averting of elementary dangers and damaging environmental impacts, as well as the maintenance of soil fertility against erosion by surface water, debris formation and landslides
• Welfare: the beneficial function, i. e. the effect forests have on the environment, in particular on the balancing of climate and water budget, on cleaning of air and water, and on the reduction of noise
• Recreation: the recreational function, i. e. in particular the effect forests have as a recreational area for people visiting forests.

The instrument referring to the above functions is the Forest Development Plan (FDP). It is one of the land use plans provided for in the Austrian Forest Act and can be defined as a planning frame showing actual forest conditions and describing the key functions of the forests for the whole federal territory. The FDP is described more detailed in Chapter 4. According to this plan the key functions of Austrian forests are distributed as shown in Table 4:

Table 4: Key functions of Austrian forests (in %)

It has to be pointed out that the same forest can have more than one function, i. e. that the share of recreation areas in Austrian forests is by far higher than 1.1%; this figure indicates only the leading function, the one most important in a particular area. The area where the commercial function is the major one is by fare the largest. Forests with this key function are mainly found in the northern, central and south-eastern part of Austria, whereas forests with a protective function are dominating in mountainous western part. Forests serving welfare are distributed over the territory particularly in regions providing drinking water; highest shares are found in the north-east, mainly around Vienna. The spots with recreation as the key function are well distributed throughout Austria.

3 Forest economics

3.1 Forest and forest industries in national economy

Although Austria is rich in forests and is a large producer of forest products world-wide, the forest sector contribution to the national economy - measured as the gross domestic product - (GDP) is small. In 1996, the share of the total forest sector amounted to 3.8%, of which only 0.2% were attributed by the forestry sector and 3.6% by the processing industry. During recent decades this share has fallen substantially with forestry losing more of its share than forest industry. Looking at the contribution to foreign trade, the situation changes: with 5% of total imports and 10% of total exports the forest industry sector is the second most important contributor to the balance of trade, following tourism.

Production and consumption

Austria is a large producer of forest products in Europe. Although the number of forest industry mills decreased dramatically within recent decades (with the exception of panel industry mills), production is rising. Big mills offset the capacity lost by closures of smaller ones and so steadily increase their market share. Taking the example of Austrian sawmills in 1996, 76% (46%) of total sawnwood was produced by mills with an annual output of more than 10,000 (100,000) cubic metres which is a rise in market share of 51% (no figures for sawmills > 100,000 m3) compared to 1965. An overview of production, domestic consumption and changes of production/consumption within the periods 1988/97 and 1962/71 is given in Table 5.

Table 5: Production and consumption of forest industry products in Austria 1997 (different years shown in brackets) (after Schwarzbauer 1994)

Production and domestic consumption is rising in all categories except non-coniferous sawnwood where production falls steadily. For the consumption of residuals no accurate figures can be given but it has to be stated that a rising share of these products is used in the pulp and panel industry. Panel and "paper&board" production grew considerably more than coniferous sawnwood production in the last decades; the reason why pulp production does not rise as fast as "paper&board" production can be explained by the facts that, firstly pulp is increasingly imported and secondly it is increasingly replaced by waste paper; almost half of the fibres used in paper production is from recycled waste paper.

The grade of self sufficiency with timber and timber products in a country can be expressed by the ratio of production (without imports) to consumption calculated on the basis of "Wood Raw Material Equivalents" (WRME); with a ratio of 1.32 the position of Austria as a timber exporting country is clearly given and is also significantly higher than the ratio of Europe (0.88) or Germany (0.62).

Table 5 shows that that the domestic demand for coniferous sawnwood grew more than the production which results in a decreased share of net exports. Panel and paper developed in the opposite way showing a rising importance of exports relative to domestic consumption.

Forest product trade and markets

Austria is a net-importer of roundwood and a net-exporter of wood products. In 1996, Austria (net-)imported about the same quantity of coniferous industrial roundwood as the whole of Europe (in terms of net-imports). But there are also considerable amounts of non-coniferous industrial roundwood, fuelwood and other forest products imported every year. Figures of imports and the shares for each country is given in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Imports of raw-wood in million cubic metres (in brackets net-imports) and the share of most important supplying countries (D=Germany, CZ=Czech Republik, SK=Slowakian Republic, O.E.=European countries except CZ, SK and members of EU) in 1997

Most important suppliers of raw-wood are Germany and Eastern European countries, especially the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

When looking at the exports of forest products, the picture is different. Austria exports large amounts of forest products mainly into countries of the EU and Eastern European countries but also increasingly to Japan. In 1996 Austria was the 6^th biggest exporter of coniferous sawnwood world-wide. The main market is Italy absorbing two thirds of total sawnwood softwood exports and considerable amounts of wood based panels followed by Germany which is the biggest customer of Austrian wood based panels and paper&board products. The rest is exported mainly to other European countries and Japan.

Employment

About 130,000 persons were employed in 1996 in the Austrian forest industry sector (3.9% of the total workforce). Only about 15,000 or 11.6% make their living on forestry in a narrower sense (forest owners managing enterprises less than 50 hectares are excluded). 47,000 jobs are in the wood processing industry (sawmilling and paper industry roughly 10,000 each, wood processing industry 27,000). The timber manufacturing sector provides most jobs (52,700 in joinery and related sectors); 15,100 people – the same amount as in the forestry sector – work in the timber trade and the administration/service sector. Although the amount of jobs provided by the forest and forest industry sector is small, it has to be pointed out that they are very important in rural and remote areas lacking other employment or well developed commuting facilities.

Profitability and productivity

The profitability of Austrian forestry is annually published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. To measure these data four networks are supported by the Federal Ministry: one network for farm forests, two for jointly owned forests in the two western provinces where this kind of management prevails (ended 1994), and one for forests larger than 500 hectares. The Austrian Federal Forests are not included and are cited separately. These networks are based on voluntary membership and four underlying principles for the calculation of the data obtained have to be stressed:

1. The data such as costs or profit refer to the allowable cut to obtain more stable results for the time series; as the actual cut is usually slightly higher (approximately +20% in enterprises exceeding 500 hectares) due to several reasons the actual profit is also higher.
2. The results refer only to the income made from forestry not including hunting or other non-forest income.
3. The data are calculated on a cost accountancy basis; with farm forests the labour input of farmers in forestry is taken and on the basis of cost accountancy a contribution to the income from forestry work is calculated.
4. Calculated interest is excluded.

According to the Austrian Forestry Report enterprises > 500 ha earned Austrian Schillings (ATS) 13 (ECU 0.94) / m³ allowable cut. In 1994 and 1995 it was ATS 35 (ECU 2.54) and ATS 68 (ECU 4.93). These figures indicate the difficulty the Austrian forestry had in 1996 due to the economic development and the opening to the European market. The contribution to the income of farm forestry was - depending on the region - ATS 321 (ECU 23.26) and ATS 221 (ECU 16.01) per m³ allowable cut, respectively. A higher income could be received in the years before. The Austrian Federal Forests are cited separately; in 1994 and 1996 the result was a loss, the result for 1995 was roughly one third compared with the forest enterprises. One explanation for these results are the forests managed by the Federal Forests which are in many regions difficult and costly to manage.

One method used to measure the productivity is the production per employee. In 1996 the productivity per employee was 823 cubic metres in the sawmilling sector, 650 cubic metres in the panel industry and 349 tonnes in the paper industry. All of these industries could increase the productivity substantially over the last decades, especially the panel and paper industry.

4 Forest and forest related policies

4.1 Legislation and administration

Austria is a federal state with nine federal provinces (Länder). Two important constitutional characteristics have to be pointed out which are of interest in the context of this chapter:

1. The delegation of authorities between the federal state and the Länder
2. Indirect federal administration by the Länder

ad 1: In Austria, forest law is the responsibility of the federal government. The forest law comprises all forestry activities and ranges from tending, maintenance, harvesting operations to forestry education as well as subsidies. A detailed overview about the 12 sections of the Forest Act is given below. The other legal sectors of relevance to forests, such as hunting, regional planning, or protection of nature, are within the competence of the federal provinces; this means that a) different agencies deal with these matters and b) each province has its law for purposes such as hunting or nature protection. This results in an often competitive co-existence of federal law and provincial law which are applied to the same piece of land and therefore can result in problems, especially when taking the example of forestry and hunting (see Chapter 5).

ad 2: Indirect federal administration by the Länder (mittelbare Bundesverwaltung) means that in many matters, such as forestry, the legislation is the responsibility of the central state while the execution of these regulations is a matter of the provincial authorities. There are three levels of forest administration in Austria (see Figure 3): The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, BMLF) is the authority at state level. As no corresponding federal administrative bodies exist at provincial and district level, the administrative implementation falls within the competence of the authorities at these levels. This means that the provincial governor (Landeshauptmann) and the district governor (Bezirkshauptmann) are responsible in these matters; they have, however, forest authorities at each level on their side assisting them in these matters.

The present forest legislation in Austria has its roots in the medieval regulations of Austrian emperors with the focus on a sustainable forest utilisation in the interest of the early salt and iron smelting industries. As a result, the first comprehensive forest legislation incorporating the basic principles of conservation and protection was released in 1872. The legal foundations relevant to forests in Austria today are laid down in the Austrian Forest Act 1975 (amendment 1987) and its implementing regulations include the Regulation on Hazard Zone Plans, the Regulation on Forest Development Plan and some more. The Forest Act consists of 12 sections which are as follows:

1. Definitions: definition of forest, forest areas, and other definitions used in the Forest Act
2. Forest land-use planning: here the Forest Development Plan, the Hazard Zone Plan and other plans are defined
3. Maintenance of the forest and of the sustainability of its functions: a) General regulations; b) Forests requiring special treatment (like the protection forest or the ban forest); c) Regulations on using the forests for recreational purposes ; d) Forests with additional uses (such as pasture, water resources/protection)
4. Forest protection: Protection against fire, calamities and pollution
5. Logging and hauling: Regulations for forest road development, cable installations, skidding
6. Harvesting operations: strict harvesting regulations
7. Protection against torrents and avalanches: Torrent and Avalanche Control Service (TACS)
8. Forest personnel and forest education: duties of forest personnel and their education;
9. Federal Research Centre: Tasks and Regulations
10. Forest promotion: Regulation on measures promoted
11. Forest seeds and nurseries: regulations on treatment, production and import/export
12. General sanctions

ad 3: According to the Forest Act, everybody is allowed to walk in the forest for recreational purposes except for defined areas (such as regeneration areas and others). People are even allowed to pick defined amounts of mushrooms and berries. Problems arising with this "opening of the forest to the public" arise increasingly with mountain bikers using forest roads, cross country ski tourists impacting forest saplings or orientation runners harassing wildlife to some (assumed) extent. This is still a "grey area" in jurisdiction and is dealt with in Chapter 5.

ad 8: One method to ensure the sustainability of the forests and the surveillance by professionals is laid down in this section. Here the number of educated foresters who are required to manage a certain area of forest are clearly defined: up to 500 hectares no educated forester is required; forest estates exceeding 500 ha must employ a graduate from forestry school, estates exceeding 1800 ha, require a forester with a university degree.

4.2 Actors in forests and forest related policies

Figure 3 gives an overview of the forestry organisation. The role of the forest authorities has already been dealt with in the Chapter 4.1. It should only be mentioned again that the Federal Ministry is responsible for the law making; the other forest authorities on provincial level and district level have the duty to implement the Forest Act by assisting the provincial/district governor who are as the general authority also the authority for forest and many other matters. The TACS, the Federal Research Centre, and Forestry Schools and Training Centres will be dealt with in the Chapters 4.3 and 4.5.

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Figure 3: Forest organisation (after BMLF)

In Austria, two different kinds of interest groups exist: Statutory Interest Groups and Private Interest Groups.

Statutory Interest Groups, so called chambers (Kammern), are established by public law and with obligatory membership including fees; they exist for all businesses and industries. The Chambers of Agriculture (Landwirtschaftskammern) deal with the matters of agriculture and forestry where all farm and forest owners are members automatically. Members may make use of the services offered by the chambers. Statutorily the Chambers of Agriculture have two different tasks: the representation of group interests and the consulting of foresters or forest land owners including the appropriation of subsidies. As these representatives only exist on district/provincial level the presidents of the Chambers of Agriculture are informally organised at state level. This Standing Conference of the Presidents of the Agricultural Chambers (Präsidentenkonferenz der Landwirtschaftskammern) represents the interests of forestry at state level and is a rather influential institution in forest politics. For the industry sector also a chamber exists with subdivisions representing the single forest industries.

The most important interest groups based on voluntary membership in Austria are the Austrian Federation of Forest Owners’ Associations (Hauptverband der Land- und Forstwirtschftsbetreibe Österreichs) and the Austrian Forest Association (Österreichischer Forstverein). The Austrian Federation of Forest Owners’ Associations looks after the interests of private farm and forest land owners. It supports forest owners and tries to safeguard mainly the right of private ownership and free disposal of forest property. Since most owners of larger forest estates join this federation the roughly 800 members represent a total forest area of about 800,000 hectares. Although it has no official intention on legislation the Federation influences to some extent the legislative and administrative occurrences due to the high degree of organisation and the co-operation with other players and authorities in the field of forest politics. The Austrian Forest Association represents forest land owners as well as forest professionals working in the forestry sector. Roughly two thirds of the potential members join this Association (the 210,000 owners of small farm forests, mainly farmers, not counted) whose task is the promotion of forestry in Austria. For most forest professionals membership is taken for granted as it results from tradition which plays an important role in the forest sector. This might also be the reason that forest owners’ associations have a rather strong relation to the conservative, Christ-democrat party in Austria, the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).

4.3 Forest policy tools

Generally speaking, in Austria three different kinds of policy tools can be distinguished: regulation, subsidies, information. These instruments sometimes are used in combination; due to the situation in the Alpine regions where forests are crucial for protecting villages and other developed land there are several specific regulations referring to such forests. The instruments are listed below and some of them are explained briefly (after Weiß 1988).

Regulatory instruments:

• General prohibition to clear the forests for other uses
• Obligation to reforest after harvesting
• Regulations on forest management which in addition to above regulations ensures the sustainability
• Forest management regulations for protection forests
• Procedures for the establishment of ban forests
• Regulations on watershed management

Economic instruments:

• Subsidies for forest treatments and technical investments
• Subsidies for high-elevation afforestations and amelioration of protection forests
• Subsidies for watershed management projects (between Forest Authority and TACS)
• Subsidies for technical and biological measures of torrent and avalanche control

Informational instruments

• National Forest Inventory and Austrian Forest Report
• Extension service of Forest Authority
• Forest Development Plan by the Forest Authority
• Hazard Zone Plans by TACS
• Protection Forests Plan by the Forest Authority together with TACS
• Expertise by the TACS on natural hazards

The regulatory instruments are laid down in Forest Act 1975 (amended 1987). The subsidies are administered by the Chambers and the Torrent and Avalanche Control Service (TACS). This is an agency directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry and is responsible for the protection against torrents and avalanches. Apart from granting subsidies (making up 50% of the total amount for forestry available) it carries out technical measures and works out plans to ensure the protective function of mountainous forests against hazards. The Hazard Zones Plans show catchment areas of avalanches and torrents as well as endangered areas of communities. Different risk zones are distinguished. Hazard zones plans are not binding unless incorporated into the municipal land-use plans; subsidies for preventive measures are only granted when this plan is taken into consideration. The second regional zoning tool is the Forest Development Plan by the Forest Authorities. It covers forest areas and areas afforested with regard to the four forest functions laid down by the Forest Act; a key function is determined - it is timber production unless another function is assigned outstanding importance. The Austrian Forest Inventory registers on a statistical basis the structure and developments of the Austrian forests. Data about forest area, type of property, amount of wood stocked, increment and many more are obtained and updated every five years and therefore this inventory is an important monitoring tool. The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry has to report annually the situation about forests and forestry to the Nationalrat. Many forestry measures are promoted and in 1996 the total volume of subsidised measures amounted to 667 million Austrian Schillings ATS (ECU 48.3 million) and was 21% higher than the year before. The EU contributed ATS 54 million (ECU 3.91 million), ATS 342 million (ECU 24.78 million) came from the forest owners, the rest were national subsidies. For the stabilisation of protective forests ATS 328 million (ECU 23.77 million) were invested in various projects covering about 12% of the area requiring stabilising measures.

4.4 Forest policy in relation with other national policy areas

Forest policy influences and is influenced by other national policy areas. Protection of nature, hunting and regional planning are to mention.

4.5 EU forest and forest related policies

Since Austria joined the European Union in 1995 policies affecting forestry had to be adapted. The most important common policies are outlined briefly emphasising the effect on forestry in Austria. The subsidisation by the EU-agricultural structural policy takes place within the framework of six Objectives, of which 1, 2, 5b and 6 are regions concerned, the rest is to apply in the whole territory of the EU. The Objectives 1 to 5 are relevant for Austria. The federal province "Burgenland" is a region under Objective 1, parts of Central Austria are regions under Objective 2, and many areas all over the federal territory are regions under Objective 5b. Of most significant importance for agriculture and forestry are the Objectives 5a (adaptation of agricultural structures throughout the Community), 5b (development of certain geographical rural areas), and 1 (speeding up the development of regions lagging behind). Table 6 gives an overview about the funding concerning these three Objectives:

Table 6: Subsidies for integrated rural development in agriculture and forestry according to the missions of the Structural funds 1995 - 1999 in Austria (splitted according to the contribution: EAGGF = European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund) in billion Austrian Schillings (in brackets amount approximately in billion ECU)

Most money is available for Objective 5a where also the subsidies for afforestation for agricultural land is included. This should enable to restock agricultural land with appropriate species and according to the kind of afforestation the financial aid per hectare is calculated. Tending of such afforestations is promoted for a five year period. Several other forest activities and investments in forests are promoted either on a national level or in combination with aids from the Community. In 1997 108 million Austrian Schillings (7.83 million ECU) were paid as co-financed subsidies for forest measures of which 12.5 million Schillings (0.9 million ECU) were used for afforestation, 3 (0.22) million for tending of afforestations, 6.4 (0.46) million for exchange of forest stands, and 86 (6.23) million were used for forest roads. Comparing with the figures in Table 6 the subsidies used for forestry are tiny.

Another EU policy in relation to forestry might be the Common Environmental Policy, in particular the fauna-flora-habitat directive and the bird protection directive. The implementation of these directives is the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment, Familiy and Youth. The goal is the creation of "Natura 2000" habitats which should be protected together with the animals and plants living in it. A working group consisting of representatives of the nine federal nature protection authorities, researchers, and representatives of the Federal Environment Agency have been working out a list of "Natura 2000" areas. Such areas are found in all federal provinces whereas an emphasis is put on Alpine regions and regions which are still close to nature.

4.6 Forest education and research

In Austria forest education and research has a long tradition. Several educational institutions are to be found in Austria: A one-year college is offered to become a forest warden whose duties mainly are the forest protection and hunting control services. Foresters are educated in one of the two Forestry Schools taking five years. They finish with a degree in Forestry and get the title of an "engineer" after a couple of years practice. The highest step of forest education is offered at the University of Agriculture (Universität für Bodenkultur), Vienna. Apart from Forest Sciences two other forest related studies are offered: Sciences of Torrent and Avalanche Control and Wood Science. Five years of studying are required to become a diploma d’engineer (Diplom-Ingenieur) in one of these subjects; aspects of economy, ecology and technique are covered in their theoretical principles and practical application. Jobs in the forest management, the forest administration, the timber processing industry, and other fields are offered to graduates. Graduated foresters of both, forest schools and universities, who work in the forest management have to sit another exam (Staatsprüfung) after a few years practice which is required due to the Forest Act to ensure sustainably and well managed forests. Training in fields such as silviculture of harvesting are offered by two Federal Training Centres as well as by training centres of the federal provinces and the chambers.

Research in the field of forestry is covered by several institutions. According to the Forest Act the Federal Forest Research Centre is charged with the investigation of problems in the fields of forestry and their solution. The responsibilities are laid down by the Forest Act 1975 (amended 1987) and include (BMLF 1993):

• Fundamentals of forest production: Site research, forest genetics, silviculture and research nurseries, forest techniques
• Forest condition and forest growth: Forest Inventory, forest growth and economics
• Forest damage, diseases and pests: Forest protection, air pollution research and forest chemistry
• Forest protection from erosion, torrents and avalanches: Torrent research, avalanche research, sub-Alpine forest research

To research above fields and to obtain data monitoring systems are installed (e. g. on pollution; Forest Inventory), experiments are conducted, and there is a co-operation with several other institutes. The permanent Secretariat of IUFRO (International Union of Forestry Research Organisations) is also located at this centre as Austria was one of the founding members.

Another important institution dealing with forest research is of course the University of Agriculture.

5 Main current conflicts and challenges

• Relations between different actors in the field of forestry; forestry matters; the role of the state

One main conflict already mentioned in this report is between forestry and hunting. Damage to trees by bark stripping as well as browsing of regeneration areas (which is even more severe in protection forests) are results of an artificial high game population. Measures such as fencing of regeneration stands or single tree protection are expensive but often required. A solution to this problem is difficult as different legal foundations are to apply (see Chapter 4.1). Many forest enterprises bear these costs as game management and hunting (such as renting hunting areas or selling the permission for a single game species) contribute often significantly to their income. As 10% of forest land in Austria are pastures similar problems are caused by livestock animals (browsing, trampling). Such pastures represent a historically developed type of forest utilisation so the farmer’s rights of redemption are duly respected.

Austria’s most important income is tourism. In addition local people increasingly use the forest for recreational purposes. Especially new sports such as mountain-biking cause conflicts between foresters/hunters on the one side and bikers/tourism on the other. The main point of conflict is a "grey zone" in jurisdiction about the use of forest roads and the insurance in case of an accident. In single areas requiring "open forest roads" for biking or horse riding an agreement is set up between these two parties regulating matters such as insurance, redemption, or marked ways. This is not possible in all areas as there is no existing organisation for bikers which could negotiate above matters. Efforts are undertaken permanently regional solutions have been negotiated.

Silvicultural practices have been changing. Artificial monocultural practices are replaced by natural regeneration and the promotion of mixed stands – where natural. Latter is regarded as an important practice against acidification of forest soils. Single tree felling and methods enabling natural regeneration (such as shelterwood cutting) show a rising trend on behalf of (small-scale) clearcuttings. Instead of hauling the whole tree out of the forest branches and leaves are left on site to remove as little nutrients as possible out of the ecosystem. A similar natural approach is found when looking at the harvesting methods employed in the past and nowadays. In the past timber was often pulled over the soil surface with cables and winders wounding standing trees; these old damages are still monitored. Now high-tech harvesting machines have been replacing cable hauling where possible and damages decrease.

A challenge for Austrian forestry is the restoration of protection forests. These very sensitive forests require special treatment to fulfil their function. The law obliges the forest owner to maintain a stable forest and to provide for timely regeneration. Due to several reasons which cannot be discussed here more deeply and difficult jurisdiction the measures are not carried out properly as they are in many cases too costly for the owner. In addition accessibility and the forest road network is worse than in commercial forests and as a result investments in these forests are reduced. As the regulations are practically not implemented the protection forests in mountainous areas are abandoned. 12% of production forest with commercial yield are unstocked, many stands are over-mature and lack regeneration, and browsing by cattle and game makes the situation even worse. A similar situation is found for protective forests. 161,000 hectares need silvicultural treatment. Several measures have to be undertaken: Reduction of forest damaging pollutants, a sound relation between forest and game, separation of forest and alp management, silvicultural measures. Subsidies for such measures will be available.

Timber certification is a matter also discussed in Austrian forestry and timber processing industry. As a first initiative "PROHOLZ – Holzinformation Österreich", an organisation promoting the use of timber products launched in co-operation with other associations a label of origin for Austrian timber and timber products. The label "Timber from Austria. Natural. Controlled." can be used voluntarily according to stipulated regulations. It mainly guarantees the origin of roundwood from Austrian forests and its ecological compatibility due to the strict forest regulations and the forest monitoring by experts and authorities.

• Environmental aspects and issues arising from UN Conference in Rio related to forestry

The Conventions, principles and the Agenda 21 which were set up in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 influence not only the environmental policy in Austria but also aspects of forestry. Latter aspects will be briefly outlined in this chapter but should not be regarded as a comprehensive summery. In a number of measures already undertaken Austria takes the requirements of the Convention into account. Such measures include the laws for nature protection as well as the Environmental Control Act, the introduction of subsidies for ecological treatment of agricultural land, the establishment of protected areas and national parks.

Biodiversity: About one quarter of the federal territory is governed by conservation laws for the protection of nature and countryside of which five areas have been designated as national parks in Austria. Three parks ("Neusiedler See – Seewinkel", "Donau-Auen, "Kalkalpen") are internationally recognised as a national park (category II) according to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) definition; the other two ("Hohe Tauern" and "Nockberge") are protected landscapes (category V). Three more national parks are in the planning stage (data from 1995). Apart from these parks a number of nature preserves, landscape preserves, and protected landscapes are existing; they include RAMSAR reserves (Convention on wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitats). A serious of workshops are held dealing with central issues discussed by the convention. A final report was published to provide a basis for implementation of the Biodiversity Convention. Plants and animals being under threat of extinction are listed on the "red list of Austria’s endangered animal and plant species"; about one quarter of all animal species (in 1990) and 37% of all plant species (in 1986) were under some threat of destinction. As the main reason for the high number of endangered species is the destruction of habitats one aspect of the environmental policy is to force the protection of these.

In the forestry sector several measures have been undertaken to increase the stability and safeguard forest biodiversity. A Protection Forest Restoration Framework has been developed to stabilise and restore protection forests parts of which are in a bad condition because of the lack of regeneration or because of overmature stands. This framework includes several measures and gives great importance to the Mountain Forest Protocol currently under preparation within the framework of the Alpine convention. Measures to safeguard forest biodiversity are adopted by the forestry authorities; examples are naturalistic forest management, biotope mapping in forests, and the separation of forest reserves. Such reserves are partly genuine residues of virgin forests, the majority are close-to-natural forests being very similar to the original state; in these reserves human intervention is prohibited and the main purpose is for demonstration, for silvicultural research, and for reasons of biodiversity. Since 1995 a representative network has been developed systematically and the establishment of 430 natural forest reserves with a total area of 10,000 hectares is aimed at. Within the 1992 "Man and Bioshpere" Project the the "Hemerobia of Austrian Forest Ecosystems" was examined gathering data for the evaluation of the anthropological impact on Austrian forests. The results show that 25% of the forests can be termed as natural or ecologically compatible, 41% as moderately altered; only one third can be termed as highly altered or artificial. For the mountainous (Alpine) regions of importance are measures such as high altitude reforestation programmes, guidelines for the preparation of tourist strategies, and the Convention on the Protection of the Alps (in force since 1995) promoting transregional co-operation among the Alpine countries and the EU to protect and preserve the Alpine region as a human habitat.

Guidelines for environmental policy are laid down in the "National Environmental Plan" which was adopted by the Austrian parliament in 1997. It is based on the idea of sustainable development at the environmental, economic and social level.

References and organisations related to Forestry:

BMLF (1993). Federal Forest Research Centre. Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Vienna.
BMLF (1998a). Österreichischer Waldbericht 1996. Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft. Wien.
BMLF (1998b). Der Wald - das güne Herz Österreichs. The Forest - the Green Core of Austria. La foret - poumon vert de l’Autriche. Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft. Wien.
BMUJF (undated). Environmental Policy in Austria. Federal Ministry of Environment, Youth and Family Affairs. Vienna.
FPP (1996). Wald und Holz in Europa: Österreich im Vergleich (Position 1). Kooperationsabkommen Forst-Platte-Papier. Wien.
Frank G., Pitterle A., Singer F., Siegel H. (undated). Protective Functions of Mountain Forests in Austria. Austrian contribution to COST Activity E3 - Forestry in the Context of Rural Development (Working Group E3.4).
Hyttinen P., Kallio T., Olischläger T., Sekot W., Winterbourne J. (1997). Monitoring Forestry Costs and Revenues in Selected European Countries. European Forest Institute Research Report No. 7.
Knieling A. (1998). Forest and Wood in Austria. "Timber from Austria" Initiative at PROHOLZ Holzinformation Österreich. Vienna.
Kral F. (1994). Der Wald im Spiegel der Waldgeschichte. In:Österreichs Wald - Vom Urwald zur Waldwirtschaft. p. 11-40. Eigenverlag Autorengemeinschaft "Österreichs Wald". Wien.
Pregernig, M. (??). Country Report: Austria.??
Schwarzbauer P. (1994). Die österreichischen Holzmärkte: Größenordnungen - Strukturen - Erweiterungen. Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Sozioökonomik der Forst- und Holzwirtschaft der Universität für Bodenkultur, Band 22. Wien. Teilweise erweitert (1998).
Schwarzbauer, P. (undated). The Austrian Forest Sector - A Brief Statistical Overview.
Weiß G. (1998). Evaluation of Mountain Forest Management Policy in Austria. ???
Wohlschlägl H. (1981). Austria: Landscape and Structure. In: Modern Austria, p.23-73. SPOSS Inc., USA.

• Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft (BMLF): Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
• Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie (BMUJF): Federal Ministry of Environment, Youth and Family Affairs
• Universität für Bodenkultur (BOKU): University of Agriculture