How to rescue the German forest

When Peter Wohlleben sets foot in his local forest in the Eifel region, a raven crows and the 58-year-old can't resist a grin. "I am happy every time I hear him, that is also a conservation success story — 20 years ago the ravens were extinct here," he says.

The country's most famous forest ranger and author of the bestselling book "The Hidden Life of Trees," is clearly in his element. He believes it is not too late to save the German forests.

"Der Deutsche Wald" (The German Forest) has special significance for the country's sociocultural identity. It is the backdrop to historical and to national myths and a metaphor for Germanic culture. It became the landscape of longing in Romantic poems, fairy tales, and legends since the beginning of the 19th century. And in Nazi ideology, the motif of the "German forest" had its place in propaganda comparable to "blood and soil."

Since Wohlleben became the caretaker of his first forest district 30 years ago, forest rescue has become his life's work. Because of climate change, this is becoming more difficult by the day. His prognosis: "We are now in the biggest drought of the last 100 years. I estimate that we will lose half of the forest area in Germany in the next 10 years. The coniferous plantations are now dying out everywhere."

Forest in a critical state

For years, the annual reports on the condition of Germany's forests have been painting shocking pictures. Only one in five trees is without crown damage. The German forest is sick — and there are reasons for that.

"If you want to harvest wood, you first need functioning forests, otherwise there will be hardly any jobs left in the forestry industry in the future. But we are currently carrying out logging at the highest level in decades as if there is no tomorrow. The forestry industry is working in a similar way to the oil industry, only the profit of the next 10- or 20-years counts," Wohlleben criticizes.

Wohlleben wants to leave the forest in peace

It is statements such as these from the famous forester which raise the hackles of many of the 35,000 people employed in Germany's forestry industry, who wonder how they would be able to survive.

Wohlleben's magic formula, on the other hand, is this: protect 20% of natural forest, and cultivate the other 80% with native tree species. And his credo: the forest can only be saved if it is left alone. He points to the area around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Chernobyl as the best example of this — 36 years after the nuclear catastrophe, the real wilderness has emerged there again.

"In places where the deciduous forest is allowed to grow undisturbed, it cools down by 10 degrees in comparison with the open landscape. The forest has been doing this for 300 million years by itself. Forestry, on the other hand, has only been around for 300 years — not even half of a tree's lifespan. And it has not yet proven that it can do things better."

Peter Wohlleben is celebrated by his growing fan base for such statements.The Forest Academy he set up is booming and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, appointed last year, has already taken a walk with him through the woods. The one-day workshop "Forest in climate change" which costs 98 euros ($99.50) is just as in-demand as the crash course on species identification or the training to become a forest guide. The funds go toward protecting the trees and for Wohlleben's primeval forest project, in which buyers sponsor their own protected area for 50 years.

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture led by the Green Party politician Cem Özdemir wants to invest 900 million euros in climate-adapted forest management — focusing on adapting German forests to cope with heat and drought. Nature's air conditioning, as Özdemir calls the forests, is increasingly in danger.

Calls for — unpopular — action

Christian Ammer is among the biggest critics of Wohlleben. The forest scientist and professor of silviculture and forest ecology in temperate zones at the University of Göttingen launched an online petition against Wohlleben's bestselling book five years ago because it mixed facts with speculation. This does not stop him from simultaneously praising Wohlleben's dedication: "He has my respect because he made the topic of forests popular."

"We agree to disagree" is how Ammer laconically describes their exchanges. The two are not so far apart, however, because they share a common goal: to stop clear-cutting in Germany's forests. Ammer also calls for unpopular actions: "Of course, forestry will also have to adapt. The question remains whether, if less wood comes on the market, it would then be replaced by more energy-intensive products such as reinforced concrete. Would we really be reducing our consumption, or would we end up importing wood from other countries where it might not be used sustainably?"

According to Ammer, Germany needs eight times as much forest to capture its current annual CO2 emissions.

He says urgent action is needed now: "We have to fundamentally change our mobility and consumption behavior if we want to halt the progress of climate change."

This article was originally written in German.

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