Federal Government makes 35 million euros available for forest climate fund

The Federal Government has provided the financial basis for the establishment of a forest climate fund in the draft Federal Budget for 2012. Resources amounting to 35 million euros per year are to be allocated for the fund, which will be set up by 1 January 2013 under the joint patronage of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and of the Environment.

The funds are to be used to develop schemes to restore balanced landscape water resources, to improve adaptation to climate change, to maintain and secure forest mires, to establish new carbon-rich riparian and moist forests, as well as to set up reference areas, but also to expand the CO2 reduction potential of wood. There are also plans to prevent and cope with large-scale damage caused by events such as storms or forest fires. In addition, research, monitoring, communication and knowledge transfer are to be supported.

"Climate protection is inseparable from the sustainable management of our forests. This is why we must make the forests fit for climate change", said Federal Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner. "Forests which are close to nature and rich in structures and species make an indispensable contribution towards supporting our climate goals and safeguarding our natural resources and biological diversity", according to Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen. Both Ministers would therefore like to fund schemes to adapt German forests to climate change and to ensure and expand climate protection through forests and wood. The forest climate fund is a clear signal, particularly in the Year of Forests.

Through the sequestration of carbon and the use of wood products, forests in Germany and sustainable forestry reduce the burden on the atmosphere by roughly 100 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The forest thus makes an extremely valuable contribution to the protection of our climate.