Klimawald Bayreuth won the award in the category for research and educational institutions!

Klimawald Bayreuth is a project that was initiated by students from the MSc Global Change Ecology program at the University of Bayreuth. In April 2019, three founding students with the help of roughly 250 volunteers planted over 4,500 trees in a forested area in Bayreuth which had been damaged by storms and drought. Fundamental concepts of the initiative include that planting these trees strengthens forest resilience to climate change, increases carbon sequestration, and promotes biodiversity.

In 2020, a new generation of MSc Global Change Ecology students joined the existing Klimawald leadership team to organize follow-up events including watering the planted trees and an educational excursion, “Wir entdecken den Klimawald,” which happened during Wandelwoche in October 2020. The Klimawald Bayreuth forest project is now used by a network of various interest groups including researchers, forest practitioners, and the local population. Excitedly, the project has inspired implementation of similar projects, for example, in the Höxter Climate Forest and Arisu Climate Forest Project South Korea. 

Reports on the planting campaign in the media:

• Bayern-Online.de Forest-for-Future (April 23, 2019)
• BR24, regional news Franconia (April 24, 2019 – minutes 4:30 to 7:12)
• BR24, 5,000 trees in three days: Bayreuth gets a climate forest (April 26, 2019)
• TV Upper Franconia: Planting 4,719 trees for less CO2 (April 25, 2019)
• Nordbayerischer Kurier: Bayreuth’s Climate Forest – More than 4,700 trees for climate protection (April 26, 2019)
• Bayreuther Tagblatt: 270 helpers in the climate forest: Bayreuth planting campaign starts (April 25, 2019)
• Frankenpost:  Solidarity for the climate forest (April 30, 2019)
• Radio Galaxy: Almost 5,000 trees for climate forests (April 26, 2019)
• Heinrichtsblatt, Diocese of Bamberg: Inspired by papal encyclical (May 2019)
• Deutsche Welle: Climate forest in the report Studying in Germany / Eco India (7 June 2019)
• Review on the GCE blog: Klimawald Bayreuth: About planting trees and seeing change (June 11, 2019)
• 2nd casting campaign August / Nordbayerischer Kurier: Climate change – The search for the tree of the future (3.8.2019)

Project website: www.KlimwawaldBayreuth.de

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„Klimawald“ – The beginning

The large-scale fires in Australia recently brought the impacts of climate change on forests back into the public eye. However, climate change not only increases the risk of forest fires, but it also presents other major problems to forests in these parts. This can currently be observed in some regions of Germany, where spruce trees in particular have fallen victim to drought and infestations of bark beetles.
In order to better adapt a Bayreuth forest to climate change, GCE students Theresa Landwehr, Kun Woo Ro and Nikunj Pathak initiated the “Klimawald” project. In cooperation with several project partners, these three students with the help of around 250 volunteers planted over 4,500 trees in three days at the end of April 2019. This project took place in a forested area that had been damaged by storms and drought. The planted tree species had previously been selected by experts and were characterized not only by their climate tolerance but also by their valuable wood. In the next few years, the seedlings will continue to be cared for and replanted if necessary.

„Klimawald“ – The continuation

The GCE students were overwhelmed by the great response their project generated. The regional media reported on the “Klimawald” and there is still great interest among the population. In the meantime, the “Klimawald” has become an excursion destination and more areas are scheduled to be planted with climate-tolerant tree species.
The idea of ​​the “Klimawald” is also spreading outside of Bayreuth: For example, students from Höxter have proposed they would like to carry out a similar project themselves. Yet, this project idea may not remain just within Germany. GCE student Kun Woo Ro is currently carrying the project idea further to his home country in South Korea. Thus, not only the seedlings in the Bayreuth forest continue to grow, but also the idea of ​​the “Klimawald”.

This text was written for the Elite Network Bavaria.
English editing kindly done by Taylor Blair

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„Klimawald“ – Der Beginn

Die großflächigen Brände in Australien brachten den Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die Wälder zuletzt wieder in die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit. Der Klimawandel erhöht jedoch nicht nur die Waldbrandgefahr, sondern stellt auch hierzulande die Wälder vor andere große Probleme. Dies lässt sich zurzeit in einigen Regionen Deutschlands beobachten, wo insbesondere die Fichten der Trockenheit und dem Borkenkäfer zum Opfer gefallen sind.
Um einen Bayreuther Wald besser an den Klimawandel anzupassen, initiierten die GCE-Studierenden Theresa Landwehr, Kun Woo Ro und Nikunj Pathak das Projekt „Klimawald“. In Kooperation mit mehreren Projektpartnern pflanzten die drei mit etwa 250 HelferInnen an drei Tagen Ende April 2019 mehr als 4.500 Bäume auf einer sturm- und dürregeschädigten Waldfläche. Die gepflanzten Baumarten waren zuvor von Experten ausgewählt worden und zeichnen sich neben der Klimatoleranz auch durch ihr wertvolles Holz aus. In den nächsten Jahren werden die Setzlinge weiter gepflegt und gegebenenfalls nachgepflanzt.

„Klimawald“ – Die Fortsetzung

Die GCE-Studierenden waren von der großen Resonanz, die ihr Projekt hervorrief, überwältigt. Über den „Klimawald“ wurde in den regionalen Medien berichtet und das Interesse in der Bevölkerung ist nach wie vor groß. Mittlerweile ist der „Klimawald“ zu einem Exkursionsziel geworden und es sollen weitere Flächen mit klimatoleranten Baumarten bepflanzt werden.
Die Idee des „Klimawalds“ verbreitet sich auch außerhalb von Bayreuth: So haben sich zum Beispiel Studierende aus Höxter gemeldet, die ein ähnliches Projekt gerne bei sich durchführen würden. Es soll aber nicht nur bei Deutschland bleiben. Gerade ist der GCE-Studierende Kun Woo Ro dabei die Projektidee weiter in sein Heimatland nach Südkorea zu tragen. Somit wachsen nicht nur die Setzlinge im Bayreuther Wald immer weiter, sondern auch die Idee des „Klimawalds“.

Dieser Text wurde für das Elitenetzwerk Bayern geschrieben.

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Again, taking the corona crisis as an example, what we are doing now is trying different available antiviral drugs, convalescent plasma therapy and undertaking vaccine trials. In our hypothetical scenario with forest and climate change, the Klimawald (“Climate forest”) concept is like a combination of two methods: antiviral drugs and convalescent plasma therapy. Wherein the former is about using a certain combination of existing drugs to treat the disease, and, the latter involves transfusion of plasma from a COVID-19 recovered patient into an infected patient. Thereby, the antibodies present in the plasma of the recovered patient helps to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the infected patient. Similarly, in our climate forest, a species is selected to be planted for its ability to tolerate drought or the ability to enhance the resilience of the forest in future climatic conditions. We planted 11 species of conifers and broad-leaved trees; 7 of them are native; 4 come either from Southern Europe, the Mediterranean mountains or from North America.

Now, let us move on to the real world, where things are more complex and challenging. Just like it is not easy to convince people to adopt social distancing, it is not easy to bring people from diverse backgrounds and different interests for a common cause. “Why did we build Klimawald?”, “What was the need?” and “How far we have succeeded?” were some questions we asked ourselves. We acknowledge the responsibility of maintaining the beauty of this planet in a way that it was given to us. Centuries ago, Ludwig van Beethoven said, “How happy I am to be able to walk among the shrubs, the trees, the woods, the grass, and the rocks! For the woods, the trees and the rocks give man the resonance he needs.” We hope our future generations will be able to describe the beauty of forests as he did.

The project Klimawald began under the title “Carbon Offset Week” in which we – the initiators –  wanted to organize a planting campaign for people who wish to offset their carbon emissions. When the Office of Land, Forest, and Agriculture (AELF) and Hospitalstift willingly offered a hectare of land for plantation, the concept of “Carbon Offset Week” was revised. Now, the aim was not only to plant trees, but also to restore a damaged forest, and, therefore, with Dr. Gregor Aas and Dr. Birgit Thies we developed the concept of Klimawald (“Klima” meaning climate and “wald” meaning forest in German). We identified four major threats to German forests: low species diversity, long and intensive droughts, the velocity of climate change and the dispersal rate of trees. Klimawald model suggests thinning, planting diverse species, and selecting future-oriented species. We built Klimawald to acknowledge our carbon footprints, take responsibility for the impact of human-induced climate change and contribute to prepare forests for future scenarios.

Ecologist Eugene P Odum once said, “The future belongs, not to those who have the most, but to those who do the most with what they have”. In our case, we had one hectare of forest land which was converted from spruce-pine forest to mixed forest with the help of scientists, forestry practitioners, students, and citizens. Apart from the human resources, the financial resources for the project were covered through donations and support from our partners. The success of a project depends on how an action is followed up by another. In the case of Klimawald, the planting event in spring was followed by two watering events in summer. The average survival rate was about 90% at the end of August 2019.

What we learned from this project is that the knowledge can be translated into action when individual interests synergize. Klimawald also showed us a way to hold dialogue with different sections of our civil society. Some of our partners and supporters who had never worked together found common grounds to cooperate. The idea of Klimawald not only generated interest among the citizens of Bayreuth, but it has moved beyond its borders and motivated students from Höxter to develop their own Klimawald Höxter. It also led to the development of a similar project by our team members in South Korea. In the meantime, the Klimawald site has become a spot for excursion and environmental education. The project also stirred a debate on the model of climate forests. In the forthcoming year, we want to improve the project, build close networks and take further actions.

Overall, the experience of developing an idea of Carbon Offset Week into a Klimawald project was very enriching. According to a Korean proverb, “고생 끝에 낙이 온다 (gosaeng kkeute nagi onda)”, delights come at the end of hardship (English translation), and a delightful moment has arrived in the journey of Klimawald. Out of 160 projects in Germany, Klimawald is now nominated for the award “Blauer Kompass 2020” of the German Federal Environment Agency. Apart from three jury awards, there is an audience award for which the voting has already begun, and we are in the second spot as of April 15, 2020. Global Change Ecology (GCE) is an international study program and so is our team. The diversity of nationalities is a strength of GCE students. And to confront a global problem like COVID-19 or climate change, we need this strength!

We hope that the help and support received during the planting and the watering event will be showered on us again for the “Blauer Kompass 2020” competition. Klimawald was built with your participation and will stand the test of time with your participation. Because the story has just begun…

On this link, you click,

Klimawald you select,

While you press Abstimmen

Remember this simple request,

Same time again tomorrow,

On the same address,

You can vote for us,

Till 20 April.

For more information visit: https://en.klimawaldbayreuth.com/

Blauer Kompass 2020: www.uba.de/tatenbank

(written by: Nikunj Pathak on behalf of Kun Ro, Ahram Chae, Theresa Landwehr, Steffen Schwardmann and the Klimawald team)

References: https://www.bmz.de/en/publications/topics/climate/Materialie283_forest_action_plan.pdf

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