Wolfratshausen / Munich - Michaela Kaniber, Minister of Agriculture of Bavaria, has awarded the Wolfratshausen Association of Forest Owners (WBV) for exemplary forest management.
“This is a great appreciation for our great efforts, especially since the award is only awarded every two years,” says a delighted Florian Loher, Managing Director of the WBV.
Loher has only headed the association for three years, "therefore the award is of particular importance to me personally after such a short time in office".
This year, 15 private and municipal forest owners from all over Bavaria as well as a recognized forest management association were awarded state prizes for the exemplary management of their forests.
"Our forests are in the midst of climate change and urgently need to be made fit for the future," said Forest Minister Michaela Kaniber.
The minister praised the award winners who recognized this challenge early on and are working with great personal commitment.
"With the exemplary management and marketing of the domestic and climate-neutral ecological raw material wood, the forest owners are making a great contribution to climate protection and to our society."
The WBV: "highly committed to a sustainable forest."
For over 70 years the WBV Wolfratshausen has lived the motto "Today for the forest of tomorrow", and for over 70 years the WBV has been "innovatively and highly committed to a sustainable forest as well as active and well-trained forest owners", describes Christian Webert, head of the authorities from the Office for Food, Agriculture and Forestry, the association's commitment. The employees of the forest owners' association have increased this commitment to a very high level again in recent years. "When we were bidding, it quickly became clear to us that we and many partners would propose the Wolfratshausen Forest Owners Association as the winner," said Webert.
The winners of the state award endowed with 1,000 euros are: the Wolfratshausen forest owners' association, the city of Amberg, the municipality of Bastheim (Rhön-Grabfeld district), the Oberammergau private forest community, the Ickelheim forest cooperative in Bad Windsheim in Central Franconia, the Pfronten-Kappel forest and pasture cooperative (district Ostallgäu) as well as nine private forest owners from the districts of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Regen, Rottal-Inn, Schwandorf, Bayreuth, Forchheim, Nürnberger Land, Würzburg and Augsburg.
About the Wolfratshausen Forest Owners Association
The Wolfratshausen Forest Owners Association (WBV) was founded in 1949, making it one of the two oldest forest owners associations in Bavaria.
The association has more than 1,200 members with a forest area of over 20,000 hectares.
The area of activity extends to the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Munich and Miesbach.
In addition to the classic tasks such as selling wood or purchasing materials and plants, training courses and networking are of great importance.
About the state award
The state prize for exemplary forest management has been awarded every two years since 1997.
It pays tribute to the award winners' decades of commitment to their forests.
This year the motto was “Today for tomorrow's forest!”.
The award is intended to encourage all around 700,000 Bavarian forest owners to adapt their forests to the challenges of climate change.
The jury is made up of representatives from forest administrations and associations.
This year there were 15 award winners.