Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050
The Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050 aims to preserve the forest long term in a diverse, healthy and close-to-nature state, and to manage it sustainably in order to maintain its functions and diverse services, such as the efficient utilisation of wood as a domestic resource. The strategy sets out Switzerland's strategic direction in the forest and wood sector for the coming years.
The Swiss forest is of great importance for the society, the environment and the economy. However, the Forest Report 2025 shows that weather extremes and harmful organisms are just some of the factors that can severely affect the forest and jeopardise its functions and services. With the Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050 (IFWS 2050), the Federal Council, along with the cantons, aims to ensure that Swiss forests remain healthy, diverse and close to nature. Furthermore, the forestry and wood industry will receive the support it requires to ensure that the range of forest functions and services can be provided over time.
Strategy objectives and long-term vision
With Vision 2050, the Federal Council aims to preserve the Swiss forest as a close-to-nature, resilient and adaptable ecosystem in its area and spatial distribution.
- The forest is managed in such a way that it fulfils its diverse functions and services sustainably and to the same degree, even under changing climatic conditions.
- Wood, as a local resource, is utilised sustainably, i.e. efficiently and according to the cascade principle, with the highest possible added value. Wood utilisation makes an important contribution to maintaining our diverse forests and maintaining their functions and services.
- The forest and wood value chain is environmentally and socially compatible, regionally established and economically competitive.
- Forest and wood play a key role in Switzerland's sustainable development and to its climate, energy and environmental policies. Together, forest and wood have a climate protection effect and contribute to achieving Switzerland’s net-zero climate target.
A range of objectives are set, based on the vision:
Strategic priorities for forest and wood
The focus areas relate to several overarching objectives of the strategy. This also includes coordination within the forest and wood sector, from strategy and forest planning to silvicultural planning in forest management.
When defining the six focus areas in the Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050, the challenges posed to forest and wood in Switzerland by prevailing megatrends were taken into account. At the same time, relevant policies such as climate, energy, sustainability, natural hazards and safety, environment and health present numerous opportunities for the forest and the domestic resource of wood; these should be utilised. The focus of action and measures is on areas where the gaps between current performance and desired goals are greatest.
Download the three parts of the strategy
A publication in English summarising the Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050 will be available here shortly.
Implementation of the strategy
The Confederation and the cantons are jointly responsible for implementing IFWS 2050.Cooperation takes place via existing committees or project-related working groups. Forest owners, communes, forestry enterprises, the timber industry, research institutes, training and further education institutions and the general public also play a key role; their commitment and involvement is crucial to the strategy’s effectiveness.
The implementation of the Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050 will take place in three stages with action plans for the years 2025–32, 2033–40 and 2041–50. Scheduling is designed to ensure the efficient use of resources.
The implementation of IFWS 2050 is based on existing instruments such as the Forest and Gravitational Natural Hazards programme agreements, the Wood Action Plan, Promotion of Forest and Wood Research in Switzerland (WHFF-CH) as well as supplementary funding instruments, action plans and strategies such as the Climate Change Adaptation programme and the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan. These can be extended if required.
The measures outlined in the Integrated Forest and Wood Strategy 2050 can be implemented using existing federal funds and also take into account the 2027 financial relief package ("Entlastungspaket 27").