Forest research and experimentation
Forest research aims to develop novel technical know-how, decision aids and bases of decisions for the Ministry to fulfil its Tasks.
Forest research and experimentation
Forest research and experimentation aims at developing novel technical know-how, decision aids and bases of decisions to fulfil the tasks of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management to improve, safeguard and sustainably maintain the economic, protective, beneficial and recreational effects of forests, to use wood as raw material and energy source in the best possible way, and to develop the forest-engineering system of torrent and avalanche control.
Due to the special nature of forest production and the resulting long-term frame of most forest research projects research on forest management is particularly difficult and therefore expensive.
For this reason and in view of the ownership situation in forestry there are hardly any private enterprises that are able to carry out research activities.
Forest research by federal agencies
These facts and the comparatively high social obligations linked to forest ownership are the major reasons that a great part of forest researches undertaken or funded by the state, in particular by the Federal Office and Research Centre for Forests (BFW), which receives funds of annually EUR 15.5 million from the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism as a contribution to core funding.
Research under contract
Beside research activities conducted by the Ministry’s agency BFW, research interests of third parties are partly or completely funded from subsidies.
About EUR 600,000 are available for this subsidisation of research activities and for research contracts.
Priorities of research under contract: Forest ecosystem research, near-natural forest management and greening of the forest management systems, socio-economic aspects of forestry, climate change and its impacts on forests, interface forest/timber (timber logistics) including the utilisation and provision of biomass from forests.
Research programmes
Priorities are set with special consideration given to forest-political needs, the Ministry’s research framework programmes PFEIL 20, to Austria’s international obligations (e.g. Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe), and to the implementation of the results of the Austrian Forest Dialogue.
Research database
Research projects are organised and archived via the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management research database “DaFNE”.