The rainforest – an endangered ecosystem
The tropical rainforests are vital for people and nature: They are home to more than half of all animal and plant species on the global mainland and more than 25 percent of all trees worldwide. As climate regulators, the tropical rainforests have an influence on the lives of all people. Along with fossil coal, oil and gas deposits, they are the largest carbon store in the world. During the rainy season, the rainforests function like giant sponges. Through this function they influence the heat and water balance of the entire world. But their destruction is progressing apace.
STIHL’s success is built on healthy forests and intact nature. In this video, you can find out why this is the case and how STIHL works for forests around the world.
Burn clearance and illegal logging destroy the rainforest
Much rainforest deforestation is the result of burning clearance in order to gain agricultural land – to some extent by settler families moving around (shifting agriculture), and also by large landowners who create huge livestock pastures and plantations on the cleared land. After the burning process, erosion and rain quickly wash out the fertile humus residues – and the soil deteriorates.
Another threat to forests is illegal logging. To prevent the misuse of STIHL power tools in such operations, when selling we build in checks and registrations within the framework of worldwide legislation. In countries in the rainforest zone, our products are only sold to authorized specialist dealers who are bound by legal regulations, some of which are very strict. In some countries, including Brazil, chainsaw buyers must obtain official approval, and will need to provide detailed reasons for purchasing to do so.
However, over and over again we see the market hit with illegal copies of STIHL saws, which outwardly resemble the real thing in every detail. This harms us because it means our company’s reputation may be associated with illegal logging – quite apart from the fact that these imitations are inferior versions of STIHL products, and as such also represent a major safety risk.
STIHL – a company that takes responsibility
As the world’s largest chainsaw brand, STIHL is committed to forests and the sustainable use of wood as a resource. Both locally and globally, we support initiatives and projects to protect forests. In addition to reforestation, this often involves raising the local population’s awareness about the value of forests – including economic value. If people see that they can earn a living with and through the ancient forests in a forest-friendly manner, conservation and reforestation become attractive to them.
Based in Stuttgart, Fairventures Worldwide is a charitable organization that supports international development by implementing projects and providing advice. Fairventures’ main goals are to restore degraded areas of land to achieve a positive effect on the climate and local ecosystems, as well as to empower the local population so that they can counter deforestation and biodiversity decline.
Fairventures started in 2014 with the aim of planting 1 million trees on Borneo. This target has long been achieved – thanks in part to STIHL’s support. Fairventures is now working on the ambitious goal of planting 100 million trees on Borneo. The proven approach has also been extended to Uganda, where the first target is initially 1 million trees.
STIHL has been supporting projects on Borneo and in Uganda since 2017 and 2018 respectively; not only financially, but also with expertise and power tools – from clearing saws and drills to chainsaws with the corresponding protective equipment and user training. This facilitates efficient and sustainable land management.
In a forest region in eastern Bolivia, STIHL has supported a research project by the Bolivian research institute IBIF in collaboration with the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg. This project significantly improved the possibility of local, legal and sustainable use of the forest.
Before the research project, Bolivian legislation prohibited the processing of felled trees directly in the forest using a chainsaw. Instead, the heavy logs had to be taken out of the forest with large and expensive machines and transported to sawmills far away. This not only caused considerable damage to the forest, but also made it a de facto impossibility for the indigenous population to use their own forest independently, efficiently and legally.
The research project not only optimized the engine-assisted gathering of wood, but also legalized it – representing a great benefit for the local people and for the preservation of the Bolivian rainforest.
As part of a follow-up project, STIHL is supporting the new international master’s course in agroforestry and socio-ecological restoration at the University of San Pablo in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The practical program offers students the opportunity to study the design and implementation of agroforestry systems under the guidance of experts and in direct contact with local stakeholders. Students from all over the world have been using the program since autumn 2023.
The Pró Mata project was launched in 1996 by the Brazilian University of Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) together with the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and STIHL. Literally translated, “pró mata” means “for the forest”. The aim of the project is reforesting the coastal mountains of a region located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul with mixed araucaria forest. Araucaria are the oldest conifers in the world. Once widespread, high demand for the wood of the araucaria led to its almost-complete deforestation.
Reforestation of the araucaria forest
At the beginning of the project, little was known about the ecosystem of araucaria forest. For this reason, reforestation was subject to close examination of the remaining stocks. Since then, scientists and students from PUCRS University in Porto Alegre, the University of Tübingen and other partners have been working on joint projects on the site of the protected area. A research station with laboratories, classrooms and accommodation for 65 people has been set up to facilitate on-site research. Research focuses on biodiversity, relationships between animal and plant species, ecophysiology and genetic diversity of araucaria. Numerous dissertations, doctoral theses and monographs have been created from the research residencies. STIHL largely financed the purchase of the forest conservation area and has since continued to participate in the project by means of donations in kind.
STIHL has been cooperating with the Tropical Forest Institute (TFI), which is based in Belém, northern Brazil, for almost two decades. The institute has set itself the goal of increasing awareness about protection of the tropical rainforest, and is developing various projects for this purpose. The focus is on courses that teach sustainable forestry. They are intended for government officers, forestry workers and local communities for which the forest makes an important contribution to family income. STIHL offers employees at the Tropical Forest Institute training on sustainable forest management and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. In addition, the company provides power tools, accessories, tools and personal protective equipment.
The USA has 6,792 state parks in 50 states, covering a total area of around 75,000 square kilometers. Of these, a good 50,000 square kilometers is wooded land that must be preserved and protected. More than 800 million people come to the parks every year, and they have an operating budget of over 2 billion US dollars; this finances more than 50,000 full-time and part-time employees who maintain and manage the parks. The National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) helps state park systems to effectively operate and manage their respective systems. The goal of NASPD is to promote and advance state park systems in the USA that make valuable contributions to the environment, history, health and the economy.
Exclusive sponsor of NASPD Leadership School
STIHL has established an important partnership with NASPD and the America’s State Park Foundation. This is how STIHL Inc. has been supporting the NASPD Leadership School for many years – to this day it is still the only company to be approved as a sponsor of this educational institution. The NASPD Leadership School conveys the traditions of the State Park system, as well as knowledge about the management of natural and cultural resources and how to create recreational facilities for 813 million visitors annually, while preserving and protecting natural resources.
Scholarships for projects in the areas of forest and nature conservation
STIHL Inc. has also launched a matching program for scholarships with the America’s State Park Foundation to provide even more support to state parks in their protection and training activities. The federal states receive scholarships for projects in the areas of forest and nature conservation, training programs for disadvantaged young people, and charitable activities such as tree planting campaigns. These activities are aimed at people who visit the park, apply for a scholarship or work in the park. They promote diversity and inclusion.
Find out more about the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD)
The charitable purpose of the Bergwaldprojekt e. V. is to protect, preserve and maintain the forest – in particular the mountain forest – and cultural landscapes. To this end, the association organizes voluntary ecological work in the forest. This serves to make participants aware of the problems of the forest, and to encourage greater understanding of nature and of humanity’s dependence on this life-giving ecosystem.
STIHL has been supporting Bergwaldprojekt e.V. since 2006. Every year, STIHL sponsors two forestry school weeks with a total of 20,000 euros, as well as supporting the association with donations in kind worth 5,000 euros.
As a manufacturer of engine-driven power tools for forestry, gardening and landscape maintenance, STIHL is at home in nature with its products. As such, it is a matter of genuine passion that the company supports an institution such as the Haus des Waldes [House of the Forest] in Stuttgart-Degerloch (Germany), which aims to facilitate nature experiences for young people in particular. The aim is to engage visitors’ interest in the forest as a cultural and economic asset, and in doing so to make them aware of its sustainable use. The permanent exhibition “StadtWaldWelt” addresses important forest-related topics such as hunting, timber trade and forest climate, and presents them from a social, ecological and economic perspective. This encourages discussion and reflection.
STIHL is collaborating with NABU Waiblingen (Germany) in its power tool development. New STIHL products are put through their paces in numerous field tests during development. In consultation with NABU, STIHL Development uses these tests to protect ecologically valuable land from growing wild. In this way, the concerns associated with species and landscape conservation are considered together with the requirements of innovative power tool development in a meaningful way.
