Regionalstudie Harz

The forested Harz region is particularly affected by bark beetle damage. Large areas of calamity have fundamentally changed the landscape. Forestry, the natural and water balance, as well as biodiversity, are severely impacted. The widespread forest damage leads to further problems affecting the forestry and wood industries, as well as tourism. Due to the large open areas, the region faces a fresh start. This challenge should be used to consider not only forestry and wood industry requirements but also the impacts on tourism, ecosystem services, and climate risks during reforestation.

The project "Regional Study Harz – Development Scenarios for Reforestation and its Socioeconomic Impacts" (REHA) develops scenarios that assess the impacts of reforestation variants for forestry operations of different ownership types and climate scenarios. Forest management concepts are examined for their effects on the economy, wood products, tourism, and ecosystem services under different climate scenarios. The results are aimed at public and private forest owners with large open areas, wood processing companies, and the tourism industry in the Harz region. In collaboration with practice partners, digital tools are developed to assist in the selection of climate-adapted tree species and care methods. Factors such as changing climate, work practices, wildlife populations, and usage demands are considered. Through public relations by the Tourism Association and the involvement of schools and citizen science, awareness of the need for sustainable forest restructuring will be raised among both the local population and visitors. The goal is for the topic of "Reforestation and Forest Restructuring" in the Harz to be positively perceived both internally and externally.

Subproject 6: Empirical and Model-based Operational Analysis
In subproject 6, the economic analysis of different reforestation scenarios will be conducted. Initially, business metrics will be collected on demonstration areas of successful reforestation examples from past calamity areas. These collected empirical data will then be incorporated into the model calculations of different reforestation scenarios. In defining these scenarios, both pioneer tree species such as birch or rowan and highly productive tree species like Douglas fir will be considered. For the different reforestation scenarios, various business metrics will be derived to quantify the short, medium, and long-term consequences. Based on this, the spatial-temporal land allocation of the reforestation scenarios for model operations will be optimized, taking into account different economic objectives and operational restrictions, such as balanced investment load. Subsequently, the model will be extended to include ecological and socio-societal ecosystem services. This will allow the derivation of operational consequences, possible goal conflicts, leverage effects, and compromise solutions.

Project Staff:
Ottens, L.; Paul, C.; Döbbeler, H.

Funded by:
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the funding initiative Regional Innovation Group for Climate-Saving Forest and Wood Industry - REGULUS



Project Partners: