Private forests are increasingly fragmented as inherited forests are parceled. Many forest owners live far away from where their forests are located. Many forest owners do not exploit their forests for timber due to the high cost of modern timber harvesting methods. Thus, private forests often remain unmanaged and their timber resources unexploited. There is much potential to successfully manage small private forests through community forests arrangements. This traditional form of forest ownership has prevailed for centuries in Germany but today can be found only in a few regions of the country. Community forests, however, offer very good prerequisites for efficient forest management.

• Analysis of the current situation of community forests in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
• Analysis of the legal situation of community forests.
• Clarification of the possibility of reestablishing community forests.
• Suggestions for strengthening community forests in Baden-Wuerttemberg.