Forests such as the ‘Bambësch’ in Luxembourg City briefly became a new holiday destination during the pandemic, and wood is booming both as a sustainable building material and fuel. To keep the balance in check, the number of trees felled must never exceed the number of trees that grow back, according to Michel Leytem from the Nature and Forest Agency. This allows the woods to regenerate.
Sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive but the debate surrounding the issue is often too emotionally charged, says Klaus Goecke, consultant in the wood industry. According to Goecke, there is a “lack of communication"; specifically, Goecke thinks that people tend to forget that besides being an area for recreational enjoyment, the forest is also “an economic factor” in the eyes of the wood industry.
Local consumption is also a part of sustainability. 60% of the wood from the ‘Bambësch’ is used in Luxembourg City, while the rest goes on sale. However, this is not the case everywhere in Luxembourg.
About 700,000 cubic metres of wood are imported, enough material to build about 3,000 wood houses per year. In the eyes of Pit Mischo from the sustainability label FSC, there is a “lack of transparency”. Mischo explains that FSC is particularly concerned about wood originating from Russia and Belarus. This wood is “often sourced under mafia-like structures”.
For this reason, the FSC demands that Luxembourg should use more wood from its domestic production and produce statistics on the origins of imported wood. At the moment, only 20% of Luxembourgish wood is used in the Grand Duchy. There is room for improvement in this area, according to Mischo.
It seems that the experts agree that the wood industry only has a future if it commits itself to sustainably planted and certified raw materials. However, when it comes to the implementation of the concept, both producers and consumers still have a long way to go.
The full report by RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish):
