Visiting the forest and Tyrolean timber companies. Under this motto, the “Forest and Wood Tour” took place for the first time at the end of November. The event offered all interested people an insight into the work that is done every day in Tyrol’s forests, sawmills and wood-processing companies. The tour was organised by proHolz Tirol as part of the Forest Fund project “Bioeconomy Austria”. At three stations along the forest-wood value chain, the path from the tree to the finished wood product was traced.
Starting from the meeting point in Innsbruck, the participants went to the individual stations together by bus. The first stop was at the Austrian Federal Forests in the Inntal forest district. District manager Ephräm Unterberger and Christoph Zojer explained how nature-orientated forest management is implemented in their district. The Federal Forests rely on a mixture of different tree species adapted to the respective location in order to make the forest fit for climate change. It was also mentioned that Austria has one of the strictest forestry laws in the world, which obliges sustainable forest management. This means that no more wood may be harvested than will grow back.
The tour then continued to Troger Holz in Vomp. The company operates a sawmill and a panel plant at this location. Plant manager Karl Klingler took the visitors on a tour of the production facilities. They were impressed by the speed and precision with which the delivered wood is cut. Wood is a renewable raw material that can be completely recycled. Troger Holz also uses the entire trunk. The “side material” produced during sawn timber production is used to produce packaging, the wood chips go into the production of chipboard and the bark and sawdust are used to produce energy in the form of electricity and heat.
The last stop on the tour was the carpentry “Holzmanufaktur und Vitrinenbau Auer” in Innsbruck, where the participants could see how the raw material wood is ultimately turned into high-quality end products. Heinrich Auer, CEO in the third generation, guided the visitors through the company. “Holzmanufaktur und Vitrinenbau Auer” is a regional company that focuses on innovation and know-how and participates in international projects. In addition to furnishing private homes or hotels, the company also serves niche markets such as showcase construction or the construction of ship furnishings. This illustrates how versatile the possible uses of wood are.