Ecosystem performance now has value: Thanks to the carbon tax and CO2 certificates, forests in Austria can generate new profits, even without the clearing of firewood and construction wood.
Europe’s forests will not remain as they are – “if we do nothing now,” warns Jodok Batlogg, founder of the Austrian Wirtschaftsservice AWS-funded start-up Treely. The IT expert reoriented himself a few years ago and, after jobs in San Francisco and Berlin, has now set up the company in his home in the Bregenzerwald, which aims to give more value to the local forest.
“Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. It is a myth that the forest grows back on its own. A study by the German Aerospace Center shows that five percent of the German forest has died in the last three years,” says Batlogg. “The forest is under enormous pressure. In addition, there is the absurd situation that firewood “It is sometimes more expensive than timber due to the energy crisis. Now we have to be careful that forests are not used even more than before.”
