The Importance of Protective Forests in Austria and Their Economic Relevance

Natural hazards are a significant cause of threat to life, quality of life and well-being. Moreover, they can have significant negative impacts on the regional economy and thus on the macro-economy. In Austria, there are good findings on the economic consequences of natural hazards and the benefits of preventative measures with regard to avalanches, torrents and floods. In this project we focus on the importance of control of natural hazards through protective forests (forests with a direct object protective function). Evidence suggests that the protective effect of forests has not yet reached the desired target state everywhere. In the protected zones, economic dynamics have increased, in some cases sharply. The forestry specific and economic implications of this are currently not well known. The aim of the present project is to generate evidence to identify measures to improve the protective capacity of forests in the future in several working steps.