How did Germany become a forest powerhouse? – Let’s look at the hidden truth.

“Forests and trees are the second-largest industry in Germany after the automotive industry. With carbon neutrality and global warming, forests and trees have become even more important. Forests are the best places that provide clean oxygen, trap carbon dioxide, hold water to prevent landslides, and serve as habitats for wildlife, while also providing humans with forest products and healing and health benefits.”
These were the words of Dr. Herbert Vorheer of the Bavarian Forest Office in Germany and Dr. Christoph Neijel of the Forestry Department, among other forestry experts, to the author. They compare the importance of forests to Germany’s top automotive industry. Fifty years ago, in 1974, President Park Chung-hee pursued ‘national greening’ and received support from Germany in terms of forestry experts, technology, and finances. Since then, more than 10 billion trees have been planted, and 63% of the national territory has been transformed into forests from bare mountains, writing an unprecedented success story of forestry in the world. This year, Nam Sung-hyun, the head of the Korea Forest Service, declared a ‘forestry renaissance’ to write a new history of forestry.

When comparing the utilization of our forests and trees with Germany, Germany is ahead. First, the forest area in Germany is 27.4 million acres, while ours is 15.6 million acres. The forests in Germany are dense with trees, with a volume of 321 cubic meters per acre, growing 90 billion trees, while we have 165 cubic meters with 7.1 billion trees growing. Although 63% of our national territory is forest, we depend on imports for 85% of our timber. Germany, on the other hand, is almost self-sufficient, even though only 32% of its national territory is forest. This is well reflected in the production of timber. Germany’s annual timber production is 68.03 million square meters, while ours is only one-sixteenth of that, at 4.2 million square meters. Also, Germany’s 1.1 million forestry workers generate a turnover of 224 trillion KRW ($188.4 billion), while our 610,000 workers generate a turnover of 160 trillion KRW ($134.5 billion), including imports. Furthermore, the proportion of timber in renewable energy in Germany reaches 50%, while we are only at about 13.9%.
The biggest difference in forest management between South Korea and Germany is that while Germany is investing continuously in forest cultivation, we have succeeded in forest creation but are not able to cultivate and utilize forests and trees as much as Germany. There are obstacles. Environmental groups and some politicians are opposing the felling of trees to cultivate forests, replacing tree species, and constructing forest roads. Dr. Vorheer expressed regret about these oppositions from environmental groups, saying, “German environmental groups oppose indiscriminate logging, but they do not oppose forest cultivation and the construction of forest roads.” In Germany, there are 54.4 meters of forest roads per acre, while in Korea, there are only 3.97 meters per acre. The lack of forest roads is causing great difficulties in controlling forest fires and is preventing animals and plants from moving freely. In Germany, where forests are well cultivated and forest roads are well constructed, there are hardly any forest fires, and the scale of forest fires is very small compared to ours. On the other hand, we frequently have forest fires, and due to the undergrowth and vines that act as fire starters, the damage is inevitably large. Also, the cost of firefighting is enormous. It would be more productive to invest that money in cultivating forests and trees.
To understand why Germany is the strongest forest country, the author visited the Federal Forestry Department, the Bavarian State Forest Office, and forest sites from October 8 to 14. As a result, five major points can be summarized. First, well-established forest philosophy and culture. Over three centuries, Germany has consistently cultivated and managed forests under the banner of ‘sustainable forest management’. The Greek word ‘Agriculture’, which we translate as ‘agriculture’, is a compound word of ‘cultivate’ and ‘culture’. In the West, including Germany, forest management is also marked as a ‘cultivating culture’. It emphasizes the need to continuously cultivate and manage forests and trees, not to leave them alone. We also designated November as a month for forest cultivation. The National Institute of Forest Science announced that “if you cultivate forests, the number of trees increases by 42%, carbon dioxide capture increases by 42%, the amount of water held and supplied increases by 43%, and forest fires decrease by 31%.”
Second, a large number of personnel and budget investments for cultivating and managing forests and trees. In Germany, a federal state, the authority and responsibility to directly cultivate and manage forests lie with the local government. The number of forestry administration personnel in Bavaria is about 1,100. On the other hand, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, where 70% of the land is mountainous, the total number of forestry administration personnel, including the headquarters and cities and counties, is 592. The amount invested by the German Federal Forestry Department in pure forest cultivation, such as forest management, support for forest associations, planting, tree protection, and forest support to overcome abnormal temperatures, was 1.5941 trillion KRW ($1.34 billion) in 2022. The amount invested in forest development in cooperation with other departments such as the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economic Development exceeds several trillion won. The budget for forest and tree cultivation of our Forest Service is 766 billion KRW ($644 million). In addition, Germany is allocating a large budget for forest development in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, and is also allocating a large budget for international forest cooperation.
Third, the use of digital and new technologies for forest and tree cultivation. Germany is launching artificial satellites to monitor forests and respond to environmental changes. In response to the digital transition, various digital technologies, apps, and platforms are being developed and utilized in forest management. They operate two platforms (www .waseg.de,  www .treffpunktwald.de) that anyone can use to access forest information and utilize when visiting forests. They also do digital monitoring to check the status of the forest. They developed an app (zelnsekt) and shared it, and forest workers use it where red indicates timber logging sites, yellow indicates timber movement, and blue indicates timber accumulation sites. Our Forest Service is also utilizing various apps and platforms worthy of a digital powerhouse.
Fourth, the love of German political leaders for forests and trees and various forest policies. After World War II, Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, lived in a house in the forest under the Dragon Valley (Drachenfels). He laid the foundation for a strong Germany by commuting from a small private house instead of living in the Chancellor’s office during his 14 years as Chancellor. Willy Brandt, the Chancellor who also sowed the seeds of vision and unification, also lived in a small city in the mountains 5 km away. Helmut Kohl, the main actor of unification, spent his holidays in a mountain lodge in the forest, reading books and meditating to plan politics. In Bavaria, a day is set for all third-grade elementary school students to visit the forest. They visit the forest, observe plants and animals, and train their minds and bodies. Also, in the southern Alps or nearby mountains, you can often see parents and young children trekking. This is because it improves family love and mental and physical health.
Fifth, the operation of a federal state where the whole country lives well evenly. Germany’s 2023 federal government budget is 476.3 billion euros (approximately 670.1541 trillion KRW), which is almost similar to the South Korean government’s budget of 638.7 trillion KRW, even though Germany’s GDP (4.4298 trillion dollars) is 2.5 times larger than South Korea’s (1.7092 trillion dollars), which ranks 13th in the world. On the other hand, when comparing the budgets of the state governments of Korea and Germany, there is a big difference. The total budget for Bavaria in 2023 is 99.89 trillion KRW, while the budget for Gyeongsangbuk-do is 12.821 trillion KRW. In Germany, states have full authority and responsibility as local governments, not only for personnel, budget, and legislation, but also for education, police, broadcasting, etc. Germany, as a federal state, has made a leap to the strongest forest country by actively investing a lot of budget and personnel in forest and tree cultivation in the dimension of investing and utilizing evenly across the country.
What are the strategies for South Korea to become the strongest future forest country?
Lee Cheol-woo, chairman of the Korean Provincial Governors Association (Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do), talks about the ‘great transition of forests’. The author, who visited Germany, suggests five things. First, active economic utilization of forests and trees. Actively cultivate forests and trees for uses such as renewable energy utilization of timber, strengthening of timber construction, and construction of timber landmarks. Dramatically increase the proportion of renewable energy from timber, and construct timber landmark buildings like the 29-story timber building ‘Roots’ in Hamburg, Germany. Second, enhance the special production districts of forest products and exports. The area where we are ahead of Germany in forest utilization is the production of forest products and the utilization of forests as healing spaces such as recreational forests and healing forests. The total sales of forest products in 2022 exceeded 7 trillion KRW ($5.9 billion). It is a strategy to designate forest products as national strategic industries, designate 10 major production special zones such as mushrooms and omija, and increase exports. Mushrooms are gaining great popularity in Europe as a substitute for meat. Third, hosting a global forest story and film festival. Like the ‘Busan Film Festival’, it is possible to successfully hold a forest and tree story and film festival on an international level. Fourth, the success of 2.1 million mountain owners. Encourage them to actively cultivate forests and trees to generate profits. Lastly, upgrading the Forest Service to the ‘Department of Forests and Trees’. So Byung-hun, chairman of the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Marine Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party, said, “I hope that the Forest Service will be reborn as the Forestry Department.” He is talking about the control tower going to the strongest forest country. It is about enhancing not only the environmental value of forests and trees but also their economic and cultural value.

About the author Kim Taek-hwan

He is active as a national vision strategist and an expert on Germany and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and has authored more than 20 books, including 8 books in the Next series. He received a Ph.D. in journalism, political science, and sociology from the University of Bonn in Germany. He is a popular lecturer who has given more than 300 special lectures at the National Assembly, local governments, the Chamber of Commerce, and Samsung Electronics.