It's do or die for Germany's forests
The health of German forests is in terminal decline. Global heating and poor management are at the roots of a countrywide die-off, an urgent issue being confronted by a national forest summit this week.
The forests are dying
German forests are dying in part due to drier and hotter summers, and heat-loving bark beetle plagues that have destroyed ubiquitous spruce trees. More trees died in Germany in 2020 than in any other previous year, including beech trees planted widely in the past decade for their climate resilience. This week's national forest summit titled "Waldsterben 2.0" (Forest Dieback) asks what can be done.
Is climate or forest management to blame?
While the climate crisis and rampant bark beetles are a major cause for concern, the forest summit aims to rethink and realign the way forests are managed. One example is the widespread planting of fast-growing spruce conifer trees after World War II in areas where they are not native. Making up 25% of German forests today, spruce is an Alpine tree that requires wet and cold conditions.
Half of the forests could die
"It is the artificial forest that is dying," said German forester and author, Peter Wohlleben. "It's not a natural forest, it's not a primeval forest," he told DW. "In the next 10 years or so, we could see 50% or more of the forest dying because of bad management." Spruce forests only retain around 5% of rainwater due to soil compacting during harvesting. Dry summers compound their plight.
Leaving forests alone
"To fight climate change, it would be best to leave the forests alone," said Wohlleben, the author of the bestseller "The Hidden Life of Trees." "Ecosystems when left on their own are much more resilient." He said monoculture forests must once again be populated by diverse native species. Wohlleben is the founder of the Forest Academy in western Germany, which is hosting the crunch forest summit.
Forests are a social network
Trees are community-minded — they learn from each other, especially in times of drought, said Wohlleben. When one tree recognizes that water is running out, they then pass on the information to other trees and collectively reduce water consumption. "The more we disturb this social network, the weaker the forest gets," the author told DW.
Biodiversity is key
"Biodiversity protection must be the basis for whatever we do," said Judith Reise, a researcher at Germany's Öko-Institut, about the strategies driving this week's forest summit. Diverse and climate-resilient forest ecosystems need time, becoming carbon neutral after 400 years, she said. But so far only 2.8% of German forests are protected for biodiversity, well short of a 2020 target of 5%.
Germany needs more old growth
The oldest existing stand of undisturbed forest on the German island of Vilm is only around 300 years old, explained Reise. "We don't have wilderness in Germany," she said. Forests have been overmanaged for timber extraction, but also due to a cultural belief that forests are also for recreation, and that unsightly dead and fallen wood — that is essential to biodiversity — must be cleared.
Timber can help mitigate climate change
But the forest summit on August 5 and 6 will also consider the need to promote the sustainable harvesting of timber to fight climate change, especially by replacing high carbon-emitting building materials such as steel and concrete. "This could be a very powerful solution," said Christopher Reyer, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and forest summit participant.