Forests are not only the source of the climate-friendly resource wood, but also a habitat that has been cared for and utilised by humans for generations. The sustainable management of forests secures their future viability, ensures climate-friendly forests and guarantees that no more wood is harvested than grows back. Around 776 million cubic metres of wood grow in the EU's forests every year, of which only around two thirds are harvested. The remaining amount continuously increases the wood supply. Europe's forest area increases by 440,000 hectares every year, which corresponds to an area of 1,500 football pitches per day.
Trees play a decisive role in climate protection by removingCO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, storing the carbon (C) in the wood and releasing oxygen (O2). Wood is therefore particularly climate-friendly, as itbinds CO2 during its formation in the forest. If wood is used for durable products, for example in the construction industry, the carbon store is retained over the entire service life of the product.
Two outstanding projects illustrate the importance of wood for climate-positive strategies for future development and saving our planet:
- "Woodpassage" - the walk-in installation by Atelier Andrea Gassner and architects Hermann Kaufmann and Maren Kohaus from the Technical University of Munich and the installation
- "The Temporal Forest" by environmental artist Jonathon Keats and SEEC Photography.
Both installations emphasise the important role of wood in our future. More information about the installations can be found at https://www.salzkammergut-2024.at/veranstaltungen/eroeffnung-der-woodpassage/
In addition to these installations, the "Wood Goes Europe" app provides a comprehensive overview of hundreds of forest and wood hotspots in the region and broadens the understanding of the importance of these natural resources.
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