Elisabeth Johann - Forest Europe

1. Introduction• Austrian‘s s forests have always beenand are still the most characteristicelement of the landscape (>47% ofthe territory)• The woodland and its products(energy and nutrition) were theprecondition for the welfare of thepopulation from the first settlementstill the 1850ies• Already from the 16th centuryonwards a remarkable shortage offuelwood caused by high industrialdemand gave raise to thedevelopment of sustainable forestmanagement and legislation13-15 15 June 2005Seminar on Forestry and OurCultural Heritage 3