HURRICANE KYRILL: EFFECTS ON EUROPE'S FORESTS RESULTING WOOD QUANTITIES BELOW 2007 TIMBER HARVEST TARGET

Now that hurricane Kyrill has calmed down, the damage done to Europe's forest has become clear: The amount of wood felled may easily be absorbed in this year's timber harvest without exceeding the harvesting target. The windfall will not affect timber prices, because the demand for wood is strong. Most of the wind breakage will have been cleared by summer 2007.

54 million cubic metres of windfall Hurricane Kyrill felled a total of 53, 850, 000 cubic metres of solid wood in Europe
In the individual countries, the quantities registered, depending on area and forest density, range from 12 million cubic metres in Sweden and Czech Republic to 2.5 million in Austria and 1.5 million in Poland. The windfall quantities are smaller in the Baltic states of Latvia (500,000 cubic metres) and Lithuania (300,000) as well as in Slovakia (150,000), France (120,000), Romania (130,000) and England (50,000).

In Germany, the states most strongly affected by wind breakage were North Rhine-Westphalia (12 million cubic metres), Bavaria (4 million), Lower Saxony (2 million), Hesse (2 million), Saxony-Anhalt (1 million) and Thuringia and Saxony (1 million each). In Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg, the storm felled between 600,000 and 500,000 square metres of solid wood.

No influence on timber harvest quantities
Europe's forestry industry is relieved now that the exact damage done by Kyrill has been quantified: its worst fears did not prove true.

"We are glad that the windfall was smaller than we had to reckon with before the storm," said Mr Thomas Uher of the Management Board of Österreichische Bundesforste and President of the European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR).

"Although 54 million cubic metres of solid wood is a huge amount, it is only a part of the harvest of 2007, and can easily be absorbed. Presuming that the current year removals in Europe will be on a level 450 million m3, then the reported amount of windfall represents just 12% of the annual harvest."

The members of EUSTAFOR plan their timber harvests according to the principle of sustainability. This means that the amount of wood harvested in a forest in a year must not exceed the amount of newly grown wood. The harvesting targets are exceeded only in cases of emergency. However, the damage caused by Kyrill is significantly below the critical timber quantities.

The forestry enterprises immediately began to clear the trees felled by the storm in order to prevent infestation with bark beetles. According to EUSTAFOR, a major part of the windfall will have been removed by summer.

No effects on timber market
The demand for timber continues to be high. As the amount of wind breakage is not overly high, EUSTAFOR expects prices in the timber market to remain stable.

"Because of the strong demand, the timber industry is likely to absorb and process this material within a very short time," Mr Uher said.

Higher cost of timber harvest
Clearing the felled trees within short time is a challenge that the forestry enterprises have to meet in the next few months. According to Mr Uher, this is the only effect of the windfall that is actually relevant.

"We know that it is more difficult to harvest storm-felled wood. Therefore we expect slightly higher harvesting costs for timber producers this year. This is the most significant effect that Kyrill has had on the forestry industry."

For more information, contact:
Mr. Erik Kosenkranius Executive director European State Forest Association
Rue du Luxembourg 66 Bruxelles 1000
E-mail : erik.kosenkranius@eustafor.eu
Tel. +32 49570 4559