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Germany’s forests are in distress and that distress is rewriting the rules for both forestry and industry. The drought years since 2018, followed by an unprecedented bark beetle epidemic, have left deep scars across the country’s coniferous landscapes. Source: Matthias Held UPM Germany. The fourth National Forest Inventory (BWI4) recorded approximately 100,000 hectares of bare forest land more than double the figure from the previous inventory a decade earlier. An additional 124,000 hectares were identified as having lost their tree cover between the field surveys and the start of the modelling period. Norway spruce, long the economic backbone of German forestry, was hit hardest. The consequences are not temporary. According to Germany’s latest forest development and timber projection model, known as WEHAM, spruce is expected to lose approximately 15% of its standing volume over the coming four decades, while Scots pine will shed over 20%. T he spruce roundwood potential for the next 15 years already falls 18% below recent utilisation levels — a direct reflection of calamity-driven losses. Germany has responded with a decisive push toward Waldumbau, large-scale forest conversion from vulnerable conifer monocultures toward climate-resilient mixed stands. For the first time, the national rejuvenation model explicitly incorporates species of the natural forest community, increasing species diversity as a direct contribution to greater climate resilience. In practice, this means beech and oak areas are projected to expand, while spruce and pine steadily decline. This creates a fundamental industrial dilemma. Spruce remains the single most productive species in German forests, contributing 41% of total roundwood potential from just 26% of the forest. Its wood feeds the sawmill, construction, pulp, and paper industries. As spruce retreats, the beech species group — a heterogeneous category comprising not only European beech but also ash, maple, birch, alder, and other deciduous species — will provide 31% of the country’s roundwood potential, with volumes well exceeding current utilisation. Yet industrial processing capacity remains overwhelmingly calibrated for softwood. The growing volumes of small-dimension, low-quality hardwood assortments that forest conversion inevitably produces have virtually no established market today, other than energy. Here lies the paradigm shift. What if these hardwood assortments were viewed not as a burden, but as a feedstock opportunity for one of Europe’s most carbon-needing sectors? Germany’s chemical industry currently requires approximately 10 million tonnes of carbon per year for the production of basic chemicals — nearly all derived from fossil oil and gas. Across the European Union, the figure is about 31 million tonnes. To reach climate neutrality, this fossil carbon must be replaced by alternative sources: biomass, recycled plastics, and captured CO₂. Woody biomass is uniquely suited for this transition. Compared to agricultural biomass, it has a lower ash content, a higher calorific value, and a carbon content of around 50% by dry mass — making it particularly appropriate for thermo-chemical gasification and synthesis gas production and other conversion technologies. As highly scientific as it sounds, this is not theoretical. UPM’s biorefinery at the Leuna chemical complex in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the largest investments of its kind in Europe, at 1,3 bn euros, demonstrates precisely what is possible. The facility converts sustainably sourced hardwood, with a particular focus on European beech, into bio-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) and renewable functional fillers based on lignin. MEG is a drop-in replacement for its fossil-derived equivalents and flow directly into the production of textiles, packaging materials, composites, pharmaceuticals, and coolants. Lignin is used for a variety of applications ranging from rubber applications to biostimulants. The plant’s annual capacity of around 220,000 tonnes of bio-based chemicals makes a powerful industrial statement: the very beech wood that Germany’s forest conversion is producing in ever-growing quantities can serve as a molecular building block for a post-fossil chemical industry. What emerges is a rare convergence of interests. Forest owners gain new markets for timber assortments that currently lack commercial value. The forestry sector can actively manage climate-resilient mixed forests while maintaining economic viability. And the European chemical industry gains a credible pathway away from fossil carbon dependence, strengthening both strategic autonomy and industrial resilience. The Waldumbau that climate change imposes on Germany is not merely an ecological imperative. It may be the foundation of a new bioeconomy value chain, connecting the forest to the factory at the molecular level. The real question is no longer whether this transition will happen, but how quickly the regulatory, logistical, and industrial frameworks can align to capture its full potential. For those of us working at the interface of forests and industry, that question deserves our full attention — now. This story was first published in www.Forest.fi

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The results of new laser scanning using aircraft and Forest Basic Data over Sweden’s forests are now available to forest owners and forestry. For the first time, unique opportunities are provided to follow the development of the forest over time, which gives forest owners new opportunities to plan and manage their forest. Source: Timberbiz The second national scan ever conducted of Swedish forests has now been completed. With two nationwide scans of forest land, forest change can be measured comprehensively with good precision. “For the first time, we get reliable, nationwide measurements of how fast the forest is actually growing but also see where it is not growing. This is crucial for the forest economy – the right action at the right time can increase both value growth and profitability,” said Liselott Nilsson, project manager at the Swedish Forest Agency’s geodata unit. With recurring data over the same location, there are opportunities to measure growth and create both new and better models to produce new knowledge. Later this year, maps will be released of, among other things, the age of the forest and the productive capacity of the forest land (location index), which have not been possible to produce with good precision before. This provides support for, among other things, optimizing planting and management measures, strengthening the long-term value growth of the forest and identifying land with lower productivity. “With good data and better knowledge, we can combine high production, strong forest economics and increased environmental consideration. This is central to ensuring that the forest continues to be a driving force in the Swedish bioeconomy,” said Liselott Nilsson. Regular scanning provides data for various interventions The laser scanning is done continuously and with today’s funding it will take about seven years to cover all of Sweden’s forest land. By regularly laser scanning the forests in Sweden, important pieces are added to get a comprehensive picture of how the country’s forests are doing over time. “The value of the forest is based on knowledge of how it grows and changes. With recurring measurements, we get a completely new basis for developing data that supports both profitability and sustainability in the forest sector,” said Jörgen Wallerman, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Last year, the third scan was also started in parts of Skåne and the Norrbotten coast. This year, parts of Blekinge, Halland, Kronoberg, Södermanland, Värmland, Västernorrland will be laser scanned, as well as continued scanning of the Norr- and Västerbotten coasts. And the more that is scanned, the more basic forest data and answers about the forest will be delivered. The national laser scanning is also an important resource for society at large. The comprehensive and up-to-date data collected can be used not only in forestry but also in other areal industries, community planning, emergency preparedness and security work. Forest basic data is a collective name for maps that describe forests and land, for example timber reserves and tree height. The maps are produced using digital methods where no assessment has been made out in the forest. The data is calculated by co-processing data from the national laser scanning and sample plots with measured tree properties from the National Forest Assessment at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The maps provide comprehensive, objective and comparable information about the forest condition for the entire country’s forests. Data is produced within the joint government mission to update, develop and provide basic forest data assigned to the Swedish Forest Agency, the National Land Survey of Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Laser scanning is carried out continuously and takes about seven years to cover Sweden’s forest land. It is co-financed by seven forestry companies and organizations, which in this way contributes to us receiving data over Sweden a little more frequently. The quality of the Forest Basic Data is high, especially for coniferous forests. Forest Basic Data has contributed greatly to the digitalization of forestry in Sweden. Forest owners can, among other things, view the maps and make calculations of timber reserves for their own property in the Swedish Forest Agency’s My Pages. Some information is also available and open to everyone via the Swedish Forest Agency’s map services.

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