by
Otto K. Sedlak,
Head of the Forest Service in Upper Austria
Austria is one of the smallest countries in Central Europe, with a total land area of approximately 84 000 km² and a population of 7.9 million. Since 46 percent of the country is forested with a total forest area of about 3.9 million ha, Austria is outstanding as far as forestry in this region is concerned.
1. FOREST OWNERSHIP
Considering its historical development and similar to other European countries the 15 percent share of state-owned forests is minor in Austria. Large private forest estates of an individual minimum size of 200 ha represent a 32 percent share, while small private forests (< 200 ha) constitute the most important category comprising 53 percent of the forest land. These small forests mainly belong to farm holdings and contribute considerably to their economic subsistence.
2. AUSTRIAN FORESTS - AN OVERVIEW
The quality of the Austrian forest resource is remarkable since nearly 80 percent of the forests are commercial forests despite partly mountainous conditions.
Table 1 shows some characteristic data on areas, property, forest types, growing stock, etc.
Table 1
Key data of Austrian forests (Forest Inventory 1986/90)
Specification |
Small Private Forests < 200 ha |
Private Forest Estates > 200 ha |
Federal State Forests |
Total resp. Average | ||||||||
Commercial Forests (ha) |
1 749 000 |
906 000 |
365 000 |
3 020 000 | ||||||||
% |
58% |
30% |
12% |
100% | ||||||||
Growing Stock (m³/ha) |
286 |
304 |
324 |
296 | ||||||||
Annual Increment (m³/ha) |
10.7 |
9.0 |
8.0 |
10.0 | ||||||||
Annual Cut (m³/ha) |
5.6 |
7.6 |
7.5 |
6.4 | ||||||||
Productive Protection Forests (ha) |
92 000 |
116 000 |
74 000 |
282 000 | ||||||||
% |
33% |
41% |
26% |
100% | ||||||||
Growing Stock (m³/ha) |
237 |
265 |
267 |
256 | ||||||||
Annual Increment (m³/ha) |
5.8 |
4.7 |
4.4 |
5.0 | ||||||||
Annual Cut (m³/ha) |
1.5 |
2.8 |
3.5 |
2.6 | ||||||||
Non-productive Forest Land (ha) |
217 000 |
216 000 |
142 000 |
575 000 | ||||||||
% |
38% |
38% |
24% |
100% | ||||||||
Total Area (ha) |
2 058 000 |
1 238 000 |
581 000 |
3 877 000 | ||||||||
% |
53% |
32% |
15% |
100% | ||||||||
3. FOREST LEGISLATION
The present forest legislation in Austria has its roots in the medieval regulations of the Austrian emperors with the main focus on sustainable forest utilization in the interest of the early salt and iron industries. The first comprehensive forest legislation formulated the basic principles of forest conservation and protection already in 1852. The 1975 Federal Forest Act replaced these partly outdated regulations and is a good example of modern forest legislation:
Section I defines forests and forest areas.
Section II deals with forest land use planning and forest management. The main forest functions in the public interest are defined regarding utilization, protection, public welfare, and recreation.
Section III - Forest conservation: The forest land is principally protected against clearing without special permission from the forest authority. Protection forests need a special silvicultural treatment.
Section IV - Forest protection against fire, pests, grazing and game, and air pollution.
Section V - Transportation and logging: Strict regulations for forest road development, cable installations, and skidding.
Section VI - Harvesting: Clearcuts in commercial forests are limited to 0.5 ha in order to avoid soil degradation and erosion. Maximum size with special permission 2 ha.
Section VII - Protection against torrents and avalanches: There is a special Federal Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control in Austria which gets the major share - about 50 percent of the forestry budget.
Section VIII - Forest personnel, forestry schools and training centres: There are minimum requirements for forest personnel in order to guarantee professional forestry in the public interest. Forest estates exceeding 500 ha must employ a forester; forest enterprises with more than 1 800 ha require a forest engineer with a university degree. However, there are exceptions depending on the economic situation of the enterprise.
Section IX - Regulations of the Federal Forest Research Institute.
Section X - Forest promotion: The main objectives of forest promotion are improvements of the forest functions by means of afforestation, forest protection, forest road development, information and extension services.
Section XI - Forest seeds and nurseries.
Section XII - Sanctions.
4. FOREST ORGANIZATION
Forest legislation and forest authorities are under federal competence in Austria with a forest administration acting on three different levels: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - Forestry Department in Vienna; Provincial Governments; and District Administration. Only the staff of the Forestry Department directly acts under the Federal Administration, while the personnel of the Forest Service is under the Provincial Governments.
Table 2 is an overview of the rather complex forest organization and its various branches in Austria.
Table 2
Forest organization and personnel (Forestry Report 1992)
|
Specification |
Number of Forest Personnel |
Forest enterprises |
1 267 |
Federal state forests |
625 |
Forest service |
1 123 |
Chambers of agriculture and forestry |
119 |
Agriculture authorities |
34 |
Federal service for torrent control |
110 |
Civil engineers |
29 |
Forest faculty of the university |
58 |
Forest schools |
58 |
Federal Forest Research Institute |
89 |
Others |
123 |
Total |
3 635 |
The forest authority is strictly separated from forest management in Austria. Therefore, the Federal State Forest Enterprise is organized similar to a private forest estate. At present, it consists of some 60 territorial units and employs about 1 000 professional and administrative staff.
The number of forest staff and forest workers is steadily decreasing in forest enterprises because of ever-increasing costs and a rather low price level of timber and pulpwood in the European market. Moreover, a dense forest road network and the mechanization of wood harvesting contributed to the reduction of manpower and personnel in forestry. Only about 5 500 permanent forest workers remained in 1992 compared to some 9 000 in 1983. Non-permanent workers and contractors are increasingly employed in harvesting in order to reduce the high share of social costs.
Contrary to forest production, the number of jobs increased within the public sector of administration and services which employs about 50 percent of the professional foresters at present.
5. FOREST PROMOTION
Forest promotion in general is carried out by the Forest Service and the Chambers of Agriculture and Forestry. The annual budget and the guidelines are coordinated by the Forestry Department.
As mentioned above, Section X of the Forest Act is the legal basis of forest promotion. There are two major groups of measures depending on the objectives and forest functions:
Group 1: Afforestation under difficult conditions in Alpine forests.
Management of recreational forests.
Group 2: Afforestation of former agricultural land.
Afforestation after storm and fire disasters.
Forest road construction.
Marketing of timber.
Information and training of forest owners, forest workers and staff.
Forest protection.
Amelioration of damaged forest land, e.g. because of air pollution.
Public promotion of the measures listed above is granted by means of advice and planning, non-repayable subsidies, and special loans with low interest rates.
The measures in Group 1, with emphasis on the public interest in protection and welfare, may be subsidized from 60 to 90 percent of the total cost through federal and provincial funding. Group 2, where economic functions prevail, from 30 to 50 percent of the total cost are obtained from public contributions. In addition, special loans may be granted so that the forest owner initially has to pay only about 10 to 20 percent of the total cost. However, the Federal Guidelines on Forest Promotion restrain subsidies from forest estates exceeding an individual area of 400 ha.
6. SUPPORT PROGRAMMES FOR LARGE FOREST ENTERPRISES
Austria benefited greatly from the European Recovery Programme (ERP) after the Second World War. This programme is still active and grants special loans for investments in the forestry sector. Applicants are forest estates exceeding an area of 400 ha.
These special credits, which may cover up to 70 percent of the total cost, may finance afforestation of former agricultural land and after forest disasters, forest development roads and machines. Terms vary from 5 years (machines) to 12 years (afforestation); and interest rates range from 2.5 percent (afforestation) to 5 percent (machines and roads).
During recent years special funding has been available for integral projects to regenerate overaged protection forests and to improve mountainous catchment areas. These long-term and expensive projects may be funded, by means of federal and provincial contributions up to 90 percent of the total cost, and are not restricted to the 400 ha limitation. The Federal Service of Torrent and Avalanche Control plays a major role in planning and executing this programme, combining technical and biological measures aimed at restoring the protective functions of mountain forests, which are of overall importance in Alpine Austria.
