The SFI-Project with assistance of IAK Agrar Consulting and the German Forestry Council (DFV) organised an Information Tour from 08.-12.09.2025 to provide German experiences in forest policy, administration and management. The Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Regional Identity (BMLEH) of Germany supported this Tour financially. The Information Tour was attended by 25 Ukrainian forestry experts, headed by Oleg Bondarenko, Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Environmental Policy and Nature Management.

The first day Ukrainian delegation was welcomed by Eckhard Heuer, Head of subdivision of BMLEH on Forest and Hunting Policy, Sustainability. He pointed to the long-standing collaboration between Germany and Ukraine, targeting to the implementation of sustainable forestry. “Germany remains committed to further support Ukraine on its way to European integration. The Bilateral Cooperation Program of BMLEH seems the right tool to move on.”, said Heuer.

The opening was followed by a number of presentations by BMLEH on specific subjects such as:

  • Organization, structure and tasks of BMLEH, with a focus on funding programs, e.g. to foster climate-adapted forest management
  • EU-Regulations on (i) Forest Reproductive Material and (ii) Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) as well as EU-Proposals related to forestry (e.g. on forest monitoring)
  • National Forest Inventory in Germany (Bundeswaldinventur) – Methodology and Outcomes
  • Early forest fire detection

Stefan Adler from the Competence Centre Forest and Timber presented records related to the organisation of sustainable forest management on Germany. He stressed the challenges with regard to a proper coordination of economic and ecologic functions of forestry.

The role of forests in biodiversity and climate protection was the focus of the presentation of Timo Herberz, from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) Division for forest protection, sustainable forest management of forests and wilderness. Herberz presented the Federal Action Plan on Nature-based Solution for Climate and Biodiversity of BMUKN. His colleague Léa Bigot presented the outcomes of recent project activities in Ukraine.

The same day the Ukrainian delegation was met by the Committees of Bundestag on Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity and on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The heads of these Committees, Lorenz Gösta Beutlin and Hermann Färber as well as other members of both Committees welcomed the Ukrainain forestry experts and introduced them to their work on forestry legislation, namely with the view on EU requirements. There was an intense exchange about the parliamentary work in Germany and Ukraine. Special subjects, such as bioenergy have been discussed. Finaly, Oleg Bоndarenko, proposed a closer collaboration and invited his German colleagues to Ukraine.

The second day was oriented on public networking in forestry of Germany, where several NGO´s presented their organisations. Johannes Schmitt, Managing Director of the German Forestry Council (DFWR) gave an overview about objectives, legal framework and organisational structure of DFWR.

The Managing Director of the Federation of German Forest Owner Associations (AGDW), Irene Seling, informed about challenges for private forestry, mainly the overwhelming bureaucracy related to state measures on climate change and close to nature forestry. The only limiting legal factor for private forest management is the ensuring of sustainability of forest cover.

Nils Olaf Petersen, Head of department for foreign trade, presented the German Timber Trade Association (GD Holz). The presentation was met with special interest as there are attempts to establish on overarching timber business association to deal with timber supply and consumption in Ukraine.

An important presentation was related to forestry in communal ownership. Bernd Düsterdiek, Managing Director of the Joint Forestry Committee of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) spoke about forestry management in municipalities, whereas the only limiting legal factor is the requirement of ensuring sustainability of forest cover.

The following day was organised with the objective to provide insides of the federal structure of Germany and corresponding implications for forest administration and management. At the Ministry for Agriculture and Food, Environment and Consumer Protection (MLEUV) of State Brandenburg in Potsdam, Carsten Leßner, Head of Forest Department, welcomed the Ukrainian delegation and presented the organisational structure and tasks of the MLEUV including subordinated institutions.

Afterwards, Hubertus Kraut, Director of State Forest Enterprise Brandenburg (LFB) talked about organisation, tasks and subordinated structures of LFB, which is on the one hand responsible for forest management at state forests, but has at the same time structures for state control according to forestry legislation issued by the Federal and State Parliament.

One structure of the LFB is the State Forestry Research Centre Eberswalde (LFE), which was presented by its Head of Institute, Ulrike Hagemann, who talked about the tasks, organisation and structure of LFE and its cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences for Sustainable Development Eberswalde (HNEE). She focussed particularly on forest conversion and development in light of climate change, the implementation of scientific findings in practice and as a basis for political decisions.

Later the delegation was taken out to an excursion into forests. Katja Kammer Head State Forest Management Department of LFB introduced Ukrainian experts to a kind of a forestry strategy of Brandenburg State, called “Waldvision 2050”, where the key feature is adaptation to climate change.

Afterwards the Ukrainian delegation was introduced to sightseeing highlights of Potsdam.

Thursday the delegation visited Thünen Institute in Eberswalde. Andreas Bolte, Director Institute of Forest Ecosystems, welcomed the Ukrainian experts and informed about the specific tasks and activities of his institute. Afterwards Sebastian Schnell, scientific staff member of the institute, presented the methodology and some selected results of the fourth Bundeswaldinventur (BWI 2022) and the potential use of remote sensing methods.

During a field trip into the LFB- Forestry Department in Chorin, the Head, Eberhard Luft, gave an overview on state forest management and controlling of other forest owners (private and communal). Ukrainian experts drew particular interest to the demonstration of a harvester for selective cuttings in a middle age pine stand, where later on close to nature approaches are planned to support natural succession. A detailed discussion on the marketing of timber was possible at this specific site looking at different timber qualities.

On the last day of the visit Friday, Denny Ohnesorge, Managing Director of the Federation of the German Timber Industry (HDH) gave an overview on tasks and organisation of HDH, being an umbrella association for the German timber industry. The discussion here ranked around free market for timber trade in Germany as well as the establishment of an comparable umbrella association in Ukraine.

Further, the Managing Director, Malte Campsheide, presented the German Forest Society (DFV) and the Forest Experts Program (FEP). He stressed the importance of a variation of NGO´s to deal with the different economic, social and ecological lobby interest in policy making. FEP implements trainings on advanced forestry approaches, whereas Ukrainian forestry experts had a chance to participate during recent years.

Afterwards the Ukrainian delegation has the opportunity to visit the public area of Bundestag, namely famous dome.

The Ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, joined the closing dinner on Friday afternoon. He thanked the German government for persistent support in the area of sustainable forestry and mentioned that forest resources are important also for war requirements. Saturday, 13.09.2025, the delegation departed back to Ukraine.

Participants, leading Ukrainain experts, expressed their deep gratitude for having the opportunity to study German experiences. There is an intention to apply the newly acquired knowledge during their daily work in the field of multifunctional sustainable forestry in Ukraine. The following conclusions can be drawn with regard to further consulting activities by the SFI-Project:

  • Deregulation is a rational framework approach to modernising current legislation in Ukraine. The changes to forests caused by natural and anthropogenic factors and relevant adaptation of forest practices require greater efficiency in decision-making. The German experience also highlights the need of broad participatory approach when developing forest policy and legislation.
  • Climate change might impact forestry significantly. Tree species with low risk are promoted in Brandenburg. In light of this coordination of social, ecologic and economic requirements from forest land use is crucial. Multifunctional forestry seems a promising approach with this regard, whereas the SFI-Project should follow up with appropriate project activities on this matter.
  • SFI-Project should further support forest policy development in Ukraine in light of EU accession, putting a focus on ecological forest functions, implementations of climate-oriented forest management, support of close to nature forestry and options for legislative deregulation, taking specific Ukrainian opportunities and challenges into account.
  • Comprehensive forest monitoring in terms of nationwide data about forest structures and extend remains an important subject as a basis for forest policy decision making, where German consultancy by SFI-Project is further desired. The application of remote sensing forest monitoring approaches seems promising with regard to high frequency analysis of changes of forests and low costs for implementation. In Ukraine – due to the ongoing war- remote sensing based monitoring is the only suitable approach to analyse forest structure and extend throughout the whole country.
  • Development of efficient wood processing industry supporting the post-war reconstruction requires long-term strategy of timber supply. Timber supply modelling is a common approach in EU countries and could be used in Ukraine as well. Conducting of RS-Inventory 2026 could improve the results of envisaged Timber Supply Outlook Study.
  • ICP Forests should be reestablished in Ukraine as another important type forest monitoring, contributing at the same time to the corresponding international network. A conclusive report on the status respectively recent outcomes in Ukraine should be elaborated as soon as possible as a base for a request of international support.
  • Timber trade in terms of national supply and domestic demand as well as inter-national cooperation should be promoted by a consolidated professional business organisation respectively umbrella associations, as this would give more significance during lobby work for forestry at the national level but also with regard to international networking at the European level.
  • German legislation is – from an Ukrainain perspective – more framework-oriented, which allows adaptation to specifics and local requirements. Involving the professional scientific community in forest policy development seems relevant for implementation in Ukraine.
  • Forest management based on the principles of sustainable and close-to-nature forestry involves the widespread use of selective logging practices that ensure the preservation of biodiversity, age-diverse structures and natural forest regeneration. Ukrainian foresters will carefully study the impact on the ecological, recreational and economic functions of the forest.
  • German experiences in forming forest policy, in particular deregulation processes and integration scientific institutions, which will provide analytical support for the justification of forest policy instruments as well as the assessment of their effectiveness.
  • Implementation of the EUDR could be improved by fostering the communication channels between government agencies, Ukrainian and German traders, and professional associations in the forestry and woodworking sectors.
  • The SFI-Project should support subsequent information trips of Ukrainian forestry experts to Germany as well as German forestry experts to Ukraine with the aim of exchanging experience and establishing close cooperation between the countries.