For the mountainous country of Austria, the important protective forests – forests that protect against natural hazards such as avalanches, mudflows and rockfalls – are also among these special features. This needs to be actively maintained and kept "functional", explains the Austrian Forest Association. "We need supportive measures and no restrictive EU regulations for the care of our forests and the use of wood," says Ök.-Rat Rudolf Rosenstatter, chairman of the forest association, denouncing the misguided forest-related EU policy from the association's point of view. The Austrian Forest Association compares the trade balances for wood and fossil ...