Arbeit und Verdienst für Wald und Säge (Essay)

Jobs and income for the forest and the sawmill (essay) For centuries, the Swiss forest had to be protected from overexploitation of wood, but still provided jobs and income. Since the end of the 20th century, the use of domestic wood has been declining, while imports of sawn wood and wood products have increased. Rising costs and lower yields are the main causes. The Holz 21 (Wood 21) programme has been able to boost the use of wood to some extent, but neither Swiss forest owners nor domestic sawmills have been able to benefit from the current boom in wood consumption. On the contrary, fellings and in particular the volume of sawn wood production continued to decline. In this context, we could easily retreat to a fatalist approach. But considering the great potential of forests and wood and the benefits which are at stake, optimism and action are needed. Forest management must become more efficient and forest managers must make greater efforts to define the products and services for which customers are willing to pay. The promotion of Swiss wood must also be intensified. The aim is to establish the «Swiss wood» label at all stages of the wood processing chain and thus also to reach consumers. After all, not all «wood» products are equivalent when sustainability is properly taken into account.