Germany steals timber amid energy crisis
Germany’s forests are actively stealing wood due to high energy prices
More and more wood is being stolen from German forests amid high energy prices and a shortage of firewood, the German news programme Tagesschau reported.
“With the recent rise in energy prices, firewood has experienced a renaissance. Firewood has also become expensive and is now in demand. Many vendors now only supply them to their regular customers and prices continue to rise,” the portal notes.
According to the news portal, while in 2021 a cubic meter of solid wood cost 60-70 euros, now some offers reach 200 euros.
Against this backdrop, timber thefts from the forest are on the rise. Adalbert Koch of the Regional Forestry Office in Munster told the publication. He explained that many people are probably unaware that it is illegal to export timber due to the fact that it belongs to forest owners. And anyone who simply takes it is liable to prosecution.
“In our forest area, about 85% of the forests are private. So the forest does not belong to the citizens, where one would think the timber is common. No, it is definitely theft,” the publication quoted Koch as saying.
The North Rhine-Westphalia State Forestry Office also reported that there are professional wood thieves who have taken entire lorries out of the forest. According to Gero Hütte-von-Essen, a spokesman for the agency, stealing timber from the forest is a criminal offence that carries heavy fines and in some cases even imprisonment. The authority is therefore using GPS-tracking technology at selected sites which can help catch timber thieves at the scene of the crime.
The State Forestry Office in North Rhine-Westphalia also informed the magazine about cases of collecting dry wood lying on the ground to use it as firewood. The people may not realise that they are also committing a criminal offence and damaging the forest, explained Nicole Fiedler of the authority. The wood lying around is important for preserving the ecosystem, he said, as it provides food and habitat for various micro-organisms and helps store CO2 and moisture.
The Association of Forest Owners in Berlin has claimed millions of Euros in damages by timber thieves, the newspaper said. It was noted that in some cases the firewood may still be collected, but information on this can be found in the forestry laws of the respective federal states.