With a total area of 550,000 hectares of forest, Thuringia has a great abundance of wood. But this is currently not used enough in our own country. That should change.
Suhl (dpa/th) - Thuringia wants to use and recycle its wood resources more in the future. The Free State is currently exporting an above-average proportion of its wood that is still unprocessed or in the form of preliminary products, Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) told the German Press Agency. "Instead, we have to establish a complete wood value chain - from the raw material to innovative building materials and wood products - here in Thuringia." For this purpose, a Thuringian wood cluster should be set up.
The aim is to strengthen the networking of companies, research institutions and politics. According to the minister, the focus of the new industry network will be in southern Thuringia. The city of Suhl has a special role to play here. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the State Development Corporation (LEG) want to develop a location for the settlement of companies specializing in sustainable wood processing as the first pilot project in Suhl-Nord. The concept for this is to be presented this Thursday.
According to the minister, the location in the Thuringian Forest, the good infrastructural connections and the funding opportunities speak in favor of the city of Suhl. For example, maximum subsidy rates are still possible for settlements and expansion investments in the region. "We can and want to use this in a targeted manner to support initiatives and specific projects in the region," said Tiefensee.
In view of ambitious climate protection goals, global crises and the desired replacement of conventional building materials from steel to plastic, wood as a renewable raw material is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the restricted logging in Thuringia must be checked again and again and revised if necessary, said Tiefensee. The demand exceeds the quantity of the harvested raw material. "Protecting the forest and using it are not opposites, it's a matter of finding the right balance."
Wood offers a wide range of unused applications that should be used. According to Tiefensee, this is also a significant contribution to more sustainability, climate neutrality and the strengthening of rural areas. Thuringia has a great wealth of wood. More than a third of the country's area is forest. This results in a total area of 550,000 hectares.
