Costs and carbon sequestration potential of alternative forest management measures in Germany

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess the costs and the carbon sequestration potential of selected forest management measures in Germany, including effects on the harvested wood products (HWP) pool. We consider five different scenarios, each referring to an alternative level of wood harvests (due to changing rotation lengths or setting forest areas aside). The cost calculation is done within a framework that accounts for both financial impacts on downstream industries and impacts on the values of non-market goods and services of forests. To gauge the market-based costs of the scenarios in the national forest-based industries, different input-output methodological concepts are combined and applied in a novel fashion. A physical input-output table (PIOT) that shows the wood-based fiber flow through the forest-based industries of Germany forms the core of the model. The market-based costs of the mitigation measures are estimated as the aggregate of the value added losses in the German forest-based industries. Additionally, we include monetary value estimates of environmental costs and benefits based on a comprehensive choice experiment at the national level.