Hannover, Germany. The Wood Industry Summit will be in its third season at LIGNA 2019, which runs from 27 to 31 May in Hannover, Germany. Staged in Hall 26 and themed "Access to Resources and Technology", the summit is a well-established showcase for the forestry and wood industries. It is organized by Deutsche Messe in conjunction with the German Forestry Council (KWF) and comprises a forum, lounge and exhibition area. The summit is always attuned to the future, and in 2019 it will include an all-new group pavilion that will explore the implications of the German government's "Charter for Wood 2.0" policy direction. Titled "Future Workshop for Wood & Forestry under the Charter for Wood 2.0" , the pavilion is a showcase for international startups, a hub where young, innovative companies can present their ideas and visions for the future of the forestry and wood industries.

The new group pavilion is produced and run by the organizers of LIGNA in partnership with the German Sawmilling and Wood Industry Association (DeSH), Germany's Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR), the Ministry for Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MULNV) and the German Forestry Council (KWF).

"Our aim in establishing this new showcase is to secure the ongoing international competitiveness of the forestry and wood industries and to facilitate networking and relationships between industry startups and industry incumbents," explained Christian Pfeiffer, Deutsche Messe's Global Director LIGNA & Woodworking Events. "Ultimately, the objective is to support the early identification of new opportunities. The new showcase will do this by facilitating practically focused dialogue among key decision-makers and by delivering thought-provoking technical presentations on a wide range of topic areas," he added.

The Charter for Wood 2.0 is part of the "Climate Action Plan 2050" that Germany's federal government adopted in November 2016. The Charter for Wood 2.0 is in fact named in the action plan as a milestone along the road to achieving Germany's climate targets. Its primary objectives are as follows: to boost the wood and forestry contribution to climate protection through sustainable forest management and wood utilization; to maintain and grow the value added and competitiveness of the German forestry and wood industry; and to conserve finite natural resources through sustainable and efficient forest and wood use.

The Wood Industry Summit itself is dedicated to the future of the forestry and wood industry. Among much else, its focus is on ways of optimizing the entire forest-wood-logistics value chain – from standing trees through to final processing in the factory – as well as on protecting forests from biotic and abiotic damage, and on climate and environmentally friendly harvesting processes. Other key themes include digitization in forestry, data protection and data integrity, forest firefighting, forestry infrastructure, road networks and logistics. Of all of these themes, digitization will be at the forefront, both in the summit's discussion forums and in its exhibition area.

In 2019, the Wood Industry Summit will once again feature delegations from the timber-rich regions Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Finland, Canada, Columbia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. To put that in perspective: the 2017 summit resulted in contracts worth over 30 million euros.