Austria's natural resources

While Austria is known for its cultural heritage, including classical music, it also has a wide variety of other resources. It has limited natural resources in terms of fossil fuels, metals, ores, and other raw materials, and many of the resources used for production and consumption have to be imported. However, Austria is rich in renewable resources such as timber and hydropower. Austria is also home to Hohe Tauern National Park, a large Alpine national park with many natural habitats and species.

The Country

Austria is a small, land-locked country in central Europe, covering the eastern half of the Alps. In 2023, the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $590,354 billion, with a per-capita income that averaged $64,600, according to the World Factbook. The Austrian population is concentrated mostly in the eastern lowlands of the country and in some inner-Alpine valleys and basins, with the eastern Alps covering more than two-thirds of the country’s area in the early twenty-first century. Of the nation’s total area in 2023, 47.3 percent was covered by forests, arable land amounted to about 17 percent, and high alpine mountains and rocks covered more than 10 percent. About 38 percent of the land is a permanent settlement area.

Land Use

Forests are the most important land cover in Austria, occupying 47 percent. Forest growth has been on the rise, because marginal soils have been covered again by trees, while in densely populated areas forests have been increasingly pushed back. Dense agriculture can be found in about one-third of the land area. Of Austria’s total area, about 3 percent (2,300 square kilometers) is sealed for buildings, of which 70 percent are for residential and 30 percent for commercial purposes. Industrial zones, residential areas, and transport infrastructure in particular (roads) are the main causes for further sealing of the land. There has been an increasing conflict between newly developed areas and areas valuable for nature conservation (habitats for fauna and flora).

The Austrian Sustainability Strategy presented by the Austrian government in 2002 aimed at reducing the "consumption" of areas to 1 hectare per day. However, while the consumption of land area continued a steady decrease until 2018, the consumption rates remained much higher than preferred. The main reasons for area consumption are expansion of construction and transportation due to changing lifestyles, income growth, large shopping malls and commercial areas at the outskirts of the cities, and lack of consistent zoning and spatial planning. Together with other area-consuming or -using activities—such as agriculture, forestry, and sports (golf and skiing)—only small patches of Austrian mountains and forests have remained undeveloped. With the sealing of large areas, the ecological functions of soil are reduced. While the quality of Austrian soils is generally good, there is some environmental pressure in terms of pollution and erosion.

Materials Extraction and Consumption

While domestic extraction is significant in the sector of nonmetallic minerals such as sand, gravel, and other construction materials—about 98.2 million metric tons in 2020—imports are low because of the high transport costs relative to the price of the product. Domestic production of fossil fuels is also low compared to total consumption. Therefore, Austria has to import much of its fossil fuel.

Austria’s materials consumption increased in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and in 2020, the country ranked eleventh in the EU in total consumption. In terms of resource use per capita, Austrian consumption in 2021 was 18 tonnes per capita. Measured by the domestic materials consumption (DMC) in 2023, Austria consumed 151 million metric tons of materials. Minerals and construction materials amount to about 95 million metric tons, while fossil fuels accounted for around 24 million metric tons. Around 38 million metric tons of biomass were consumed by the Austrian economy. These figures correspond to a 2017 per-capita consumption of 52 percent. Policies focusing on reducing material inputs and consumption were included in the Austrian Sustainability Strategy aiming at stabilizing materials consumption in the short run and increasing resource productivity in the long run, but in 2022, it was clear much improvement was still needed.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity, as defined by the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity, comprises diversity within and between species and ecosystems (habitats, landscapes). In Austria, species (fauna and flora) as well as habitats are protected by provincial, national, and international (especially European Union) law. On a national scale, in 2023, 33.4 percent of plant species, 26.0 percent of mammals, 28.8 percent of birds, and 39.4 percent of fish were listed as threatened. Of particular concern in the same year were reptiles at 64.3 percent and amphibians at 57.1 percent threatened. Species loss is mainly because of habitat loss, devaluation, and fragmentation, which impacts wetlands and forest ecosystems.

As of 2023, Austria maintained 1668 protected areas on a land area of approximately 42,755 square kilometers, placing them fifth in the world according to the UN's Protected Planet organization. This area includes national parks (according to the IUCN’s category II definition), nature conservation areas, protected landscapes, and European conservation zones. More than 200 of these protected areas are also part of the European Union’s network of protected areas.

Timber

About 47 percent of Austrian territory was covered with forests in 2024 (39,600 square kilometers out of 83,872 square kilometers). Therefore, timber is a significant natural resource in Austria. However, because of the mountainous regions of the eastern Alps and the partially cold climate, not all forests can be economically managed for timber production. Timber production is generally an important use of forests. Equally important is erosion control and protection of settlements from landslides and avalanches on the steep slopes of the Alps. Furthermore, forests provide important functions in terms of water purification and storage, micro- and meso-climate regulation, and recreation. The Austrian Forest Program presented by the Austrian government in 2006 aimed at achieving a sustainable and multifunctional use of forests. In 2022, in combination with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, Austrian leaders continued to create sustainable plans to protect Austrian forests.

In 2020, only 3 percent of Austrian forests were categorized as natural, 22 percent as seminatural, 41 percent as moderately altered, 27 percent as altered, and 7 percent as artificial. Forests are generally important for conserving biodiversity. Some Austrian forests require a regime for biodiversity conservation.

According to the Austrian Forest Inventory, typically about one-half of the annual increase in biomass is harvested. Out of 9.3 cubic meters of biomass increase per hectare, 5.6 cubic meters may be used. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, forest areas grew by roughly 1 percent, with an increasing trend. The actual quantity of timber harvested is lower than the potential sustainable yield. About one-third of timber is used as biofuels, the rest for commercial purposes such as furniture. Austria ranks in the top ten of all European countries in timber production per capita. This also leads to an above-average paper and paperboard production.

Climate change was one of the threats to functioning forest ecosystems. Austria's temperature has been rising faster than most of the world, gaining 2 degrees Celsius since 1880. Heatwaves and droughts have become more common and threaten the country's forests. Forests fires were expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Lack of water also led to pest infestations.

Austrian forests are also considered important in terms of climate change policies. Austrian forests serve as a carbon sink because of the increase in timber stocks. Austrian forests are a major supplier of biofuels and therefore contribute to reducing greenhouse gases.

Water Resources and Use

Austria is a country rich in water resources. As the Alps form a barrier for clouds, annual precipitation in areas of higher altitude amounts to about 2,000 millimeters per square meter, and at lower altitudes, about 600 millimeters per square meter in 2022. Tributaries from abroad account for an additional influx of 320 millimeters per square meter. Evaporation leads to a reduction in water resources of 500 millimeters per square meter, and the outflow of surface water and groundwater amounts to 920 millimeters per square meter. The average of renewable water resources totaled 77.7 billion cubic meters in 2020, with a total municipal water withdrawal of 720 million cubic meters, and an industrial water withdrawal of 2.69 billion cubic meters, and agricultural water withdrawal 720 million cubic meters in 2020. From a quantitative viewpoint, water use and diversion are most prominent in hydropower stations, as around 60 percent of Austrian rivers are significantly impacted. Austrian households receive about one-half of their drinking water from springs, while the other half comes from groundwater. Ninety five percent of Austrian households are connected to the public sewage system.

More than 90 percent of Austrian groundwater bodies are in a good chemical state. The majority of surface waters have good or very good water quality. Water quality is reduced to moderate quality only in single "hot spots"such as downstream of large cities. The main threats to water resources in Austria are nonpoint pollution sources from the agricultural sector and the modification of surface waters for hydropower plants and ship transport on the main river of Austria, the Danube.

While agricultural, commercial, and residential consumption of water is important, probably the most important use of water resources, in quantitative terms, is in electricity production. About 51.2 percent of Austrian electricity was produced in hydropower plants along the large Austrian rivers, such as the Danube, in 2022. This also leads to a comparatively high share of renewable energy sources, which account for about 24 percent of total energy consumption. Some of this electricity is also traded on European energy markets.

The good state of water resources in Austria is the result of the strict regulatory framework of the Austrian Clean Water Act, which prescribes the "state of the art in pollution control technology" for all water uses and wastewater discharges, and to the extensive use of environmental subsidies for municipalities and water-polluting industries. Moreover, the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) was implemented in Austria, aiming at a good ecological state of all water resources and at the incorporation of all environmental and resource costs and benefits in the pricing of water services.

Other Resources

In 2022, more than 31 percent of Austrian territory was used for agriculture, a sector that is relatively small but highly developed. Important domestic agricultural products include grains, potatoes, fruit, dairy products, wine, and cattle, pigs, and poultry.

One resource that is plentiful in Austria is tungsten (wolfram); Austria has one of the largest deposits worldwide. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all non-alloyed metals. Therefore, it is used in filaments for lightbulbs, cathode-ray tubes, vacuum tubes, and other high-temperature applications in the electrical, heating, and welding industries.

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