What it costs to own a piece of nature

Calling a piece of forest your own is an attractive affair, but also a big task – because you have to deal with vermin, storms and environmental influences. Forest owners must ensure traffic safety along forest roads or hiking trails so that no trees or branches fall.

According to Greenpeace, 82 percent of the forests in Austria are in use Private property – belong primarily to churches and monasteries, but are also given to children in the family and passed on. Today, fewer and fewer forests belong to farmers and foresters – instead, more city dwellers are forest owners. The remaining 18 percent belong to the Republic of Austria or the Federal Forests. According to Greenpeace, this puts Austria in second place after Portugal in terms of private ownership of forests within the EU.

Die Fichte is the dominant tree species, followed by the beech. But these two species in particular are extremely endangered. Experts therefore recommend planting more other tree species. This means that seeds are sourced from warmer countries where the climate is like what we will have in a few decades. Current evaluations show that transactions with forestry properties are increasing. In the past 15 years, more than 1.14 billion square meters of forest have changed owners, according to a recent survey by IMMOunited. More than 90 percent of the transactions were carried out by private investors.

An important selling point for forest properties is that you can use your own forest for recreational purposes. You acquire one with the forest Forester’s housea hunting lodge or even a small manor house, then you have also acquired a second home or a weekend house that you can use. Buyers are looking for at least sizes between 120 and 200 hectaresbecause forestry properties under 115 hectares do not offer private hunting.

Smaller areas make sense if you… firewood for your own tiled stove. The purchase prices for forestry properties depend on the size and location of the property, but also on the altitude: the influence of climate change is less noticeable in higher regions. Of course, it also depends on the number of trees and whether there are buildings on the property. A square meters of forest According to brokers in this country, it costs between one and three euros. According to experts, the return is rather modest, although forest owners earn a profit when they sell trees – this requires patience – but also through hunting.