OptiForValue – Optimising forest operations for sustainable forest management & high-value applications

Project goals & contents:

The main objective of OptiForValue is to develop, test and demonstrate high-value wood-based value chains based on efficient forest management, wood production and utilisation, supporting the principles of economic, environmental and social sustainability. In addition, the project aims to increase the value, competitiveness and sustainability of existing forest-based value chains – especially those that are already severely affected by the impacts of climate change or will be in the coming decades.

The OptiForValue consortium, consisting of seven companies and twelve research and development institutions, aims to create at least four resilient, sustainable and high-quality regional value chains in the forestry and timber sector. These are to serve as a model for the transformation of other forest-based supply chains in Europe. These regional value chains were designed and implemented on the basis of current scientific findings and through the participatory involvement of relevant stakeholders in the respective regions. This will make a significant contribution to the transition to a more sustainable bioeconomy.

Wood K plus is leading the Austrian use case with a focus on the utilisation of damaged wood. Together with scientific partners LUKE (Finland) and BOKU (Austria), various types of damaged wood are being examined and evaluated in terms of their material utilisation potential. The aim is to identify utilisation pathways that ensure future material availability, especially for timber construction, and thus contribute to the resilient use of forest resources.