FGR-Update

Advancement and update of the Economic Accounts for Forestry

Since 1991, the Thünen-Institute of Forestry annually compiles the Economic Accounts for Forestry (FGR) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The FGR provides an overview of the origin of goods and income in the economic sector of forestry in Germany and is an important basis for further national and international reporting, such as for the National Accounts (VGR) and the European Forest Accounts (EFA).

Background and Objective

The current methodology of the FGR is partly based on outdated data bases and procedures, which requires a fundamental revision. Against this background, we want to scientifically review the existing system of the FGR, develop it further, update it and use it to address forest policy issues.

Target Group

German Federal Statistical Office, Eurostat, politics, administration, associations, economy and science

Approach

By analyzing the existing FGR calculation system, individual calculation methods and their data sources are to be reviewed, adapted or restructured. The existing FGR calculation system will be simplified as far as possible in order to be able to adapt to annually changing framework conditions. Activities that have been newly assigned to the economic sector forestry, on the basis of the conversion of the European System of Accounts (ESA) 1995 to the ESA 2010 will, be examined with regard to their data availability and, if possible, integrated into the new FGR calculation. A special focus will be placed on the survey and calculation procedure for forestry operations under 200 ha.

Data and Methods

The data sources for the FGR are the Forest Accountancy Data Network of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the estimation of fellings of the Thünen Institute of Forestry, data on the machinery stock structure of the Kuratorium für Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik e.V. (KWF), price data on timber assortments of the German Federal Statistical Office, and data on energy price development of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The project will examine whether additional or alternative data sources can be used.

Our Research Questions

Are the calculation procedures of the current ESA compliant with the requirements of the ESA 2010?
On the basis of which data sources and calculation procedures could further activities resulting from the ESA 2010 be integrated into the FGR?
How can the FGR calculation procedure be restructured to adapt it annually to changing conditions?
Is the small private forest adequately represented in the FGR with the current calculation procedures?