The basis of sustainable forest management is sustainable planning. Therefore, in the project “Sustainability concept Bayersiche Staatsforsten” an optimisation of mid-term management plans is intended. The project strives for a simultaneous incorporation of economical, ecological and social targets by the use of modern planning techniques. It is intended to shift all management planning in Bavarian State Forests to modern planning techniques. The necessary preliminary work is the major task of this project.

As part of this project the structure of future timber assortments is calculated on the basis of forest inventory data and growth simulations. In addition, by analysing the past biotic and abiotic damages to forests the future damaged forest area is estimated. Furthermore, a prototype of an optimization model is developed for an exemplary forest district. The model is supposed to optimize management plans financially. For the optimization process data on biological production and risk, such as projected amounts of timber through biotic and abiotic damages and timber price fluctuations, are used. The project constitutes the first component of a planned decision-support-system (DCS) for Bavarian State Forests.