Obwaldner Forstgeschichte: Basis für eine erfolgreiche Zukunft | Forestry history of canton Obwald: a basis for future success

Canton Obwald has a total surface area of about 50 000 hectares. Approximately 40% of this area is covered by forest. According to maps detailing the protective forests, over 70% of the forest serves as a protection from natural hazards, above all in the places characterized by mountain torrents reaching the valley floor. But the Ob-wald forests, together with the open pastures, also offer a habitat for a great variety of animals and plants and are recreational areas for residents and guests alike. In the article, some sectors are presented in which the geographically small canton Obwald has played a pioneering role, such as: the creation of maps based on phytoso-ciological surveys, covering the whole area, and available since 1982; forest development management with the help of forest development planning and a level of exploitation fixed by the canton; the creation of canton-wide natural hazard maps and in addition the integral projects, in which projects for the protection from natural hazards are planned and carried out as a whole.