The publication of the findings of the second Swiss National Forest Inventory triggered wide fundamental debate on the issue of large-diameter wood in Switzerland. On the initiative of the then Swiss Forest Agency at the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, a «large-diameter wood»workshop was held in Lyss in December 1999. The issue was overshadowed by the occurrence of hurricane Lothar, which swept across northern Europe at the end of December 1999. Nevertheless, in recent years various actors have been actively engaged in this area. Following a short presentation of the key aspects of the forestry and timber sector in Switzerland, which are of significance to this issue, this paper provides a detailed account of the «large-diameter wood» workshop in Lyss. This is followed by an exploration of some elements of the package of measures formulated at the time – with particular emphasis on the projects supported by the federal authorities – and an outline of the current status of their implementation. The next question that arises concerns the future: one topic which has not been explored in detail up to now is that of deciduous wood and its processing and use. Finally, conclusions are drawn from the debate that has taken place up to now and an attempt made to predict the outlook for the near future.

In 1998 and 1999, an independent committee of international experts first investigated the questions of whether and to what extent Swiss forest policy is sustainable. The main topics examined were: Increase in forest area, forest regeneration,forest conservation, browsing by game, timber yield, biological diversity, the forest’s protective function, the subsidy system,the economic viability of forestry companies, and promotion of timber consumption. This document shows how the Swiss Forest Agency (SFA)evaluates the experts’ results, which were entirely based on available written material (written sources), and the conclusions the SFA draws in terms of its future work and policy development. Overall, the SFA• takes the experts’ evaluation seriously,• is mostly in agreement with the thrust of the recommendations,and• is working towards implementing and realising them.

The paper takes stock of the key provisions of the forest legislation. It does not examine individual articles from the legislation in detail. Instead, it explores the legislative provisions from the controversial perspectives of «centralism versus federalism» and «general rule versus detailed regulation». The question of the extent to which the forest legislation represents a visionary step forward or a mere continuation of the old forest police legislation is also raised. By and large, some ten years after its coming into force, the enactment of the forest legislation can be seen as a positive development. From the viewpoint of the implementing authority, a series of circulars and various other supports have facilitated its implementation. They have also helped in the identification of new and innovative solutions, and improved and intensified cooperation between the state and the cantons, the administration,research and practice. However, this does not free us from the obligation to strive for further improvements in the coming years; adaptation to the increasing pace of socio-political development is unavoidable.

At the level of the federal government, since 1990 there have been at least 16 important processes relevant to forest policy. These processes mainly ran in parallel, but were in part contradictory,sometimes they were complementary and synergies were also achieved. The processes are divided into three main categories (processes triggered by nature, by the surroundings and self-initiated processes). They are briefly described and evaluated from a personal, forest policy point of view. Seven points for thought are used to show what needs to be taken into account in future national forest policy. Finally the Swiss forest service organisation is compared with another federal structure of an NGO, namely the organisational structure of Pro Senectute, the author's new area of work.