Grüne Wirtschaft: eine Annäherung an mögliche Zielkonflikte und Synergien im Wald

Abstract

Green economy: an approximation of possible goal conflicts and synergies in the forest The development of sectors of a “sustainable” or “green” economy often involve trade-offs with other demands for resources and scarce land. The ambition to use agricultural areas more economically and to promote renewable energy production, has led to several recent changes in the legislation in Switzerland. These changes are likely to create a dynamic that will intensify trade-offs in forests. In this paper we discuss two examples of the renewable energy sector – wood biomass and wind power. We explore how these growing sectors could affect the provision of forest ecosystem services. We identify both conflicts as well as synergies, whereby we find that especially effects of increased energy wood use will strongly depend on the sylvicultural practices applied. The research project “ATREE” will broaden this analysis, including further sectors of the “green” economy and will present corresponding policy recommendations to resolve such tradeoffs.