MArtin Menke is standing in the forest, somewhere in the Vogelsberg district, and is pointing to a stack of logs that have been stored. “This is noble beech,” he says. Tailored especially for the customer, he agreed with him 90 euros per cubic metre. Menke manages production in the forestry office in Schotten, which includes eleven forest districts. He’s driving his car and rattling along the paths where his wood is stored, some of which has already been sold. Foresters call the piles Polter. And the stack that Menke points to is noteworthy: it is the best firewood in the country, he says. If he was a thief and he could choose? “Then I would take that.”
Such mind games have become a habit for Menke. Because wood, which is stored so inconspicuously and at the same time unmissable by the wayside, is increasingly being stolen. The thieves use an advantage that probably only applies to wood: the trunks are several meters long. To transport them away, you need the same equipment and logistics as a timber merchant who bought the wood and legally loads it. “They also steal in the daylight,” says Menke. After all, what walker would think evil when he sees someone transporting wood?
increase in theft
The Hessian police recorded 63 cases of wood theft last year, this year the number was “in the middle three-digit range” at the end of December, and the specific statistics will not be published until 2023. According to Hessenforst, a total of 850 solid cubic meters of wood worth 45,000 euros were stolen in 2022. This only refers to wood that was still owned by the country at the time of the theft. This does not include quantities that were already sold and stolen before they were transported away. “We find out about such thefts more by chance,” says a spokesman for Hessenforst. In central Hesse, five such cases became known this year, and several thousand cubic meters of wood were stolen. In addition, some thefts are not reported at all, they are also missing in the statistics.
Hessenforst also does not record those thefts that occur in private or municipal forests. Christian Raupach, Managing Director of the Hessian Forest Owners’ Association, which represents the interests of private and municipal owners, reports that cases of wood theft have skyrocketed in recent months, but he does not collect any figures on this. “You have to prove that first, the foresters don’t have the time for that,” says Raupach. According to Hessenforst, the amount of stolen wood has not increased “significantly” compared to the previous year, but the number of thefts of smaller amounts of wood has increased.
“Enormous increase in demand”
Raupach also observes this: In conurbations, it is becoming increasingly common for people to drive into the forest with cars, trailers and chainsaws and help themselves to firewood. “People have no sense that ownership is there. They think the forest belongs to everyone. “However, such thieves are usually caught because they have been employed for quite a long time. And often the matter can be clarified directly if you point it out. “It’s due to the energy crisis and the enormous increase in demand,” says Raupach. In the Vordertaunus, split and dried beech wood now costs around 400 euros per cubic meter, which is four times as much as a year and a half ago.
According to Hessenforst, the so-called hand bouquet rule applies to private forest visitors: everything that you can carry with one hand – a few mushrooms, wild garlic or a branch – can be taken out of the forest. “As soon as you’re out in the woods with the basket or sawing something off, that’s taboo,” says a spokeswoman.
