The German federal government wants to invest 900 million euros in the protection and renewal of forests. The funding aims to promote forest owners' preparation for the effects of climate change and to strengthen carbon sinks.
Those who own more than 100 hectares of forest can receive financing if they protect at least five percent of their forests and do not cut down these areas for at least 20 years.
About a third of Germany's surface area is forested. Bark bettles have caused extensive destruction in the forests of western Germany, and this summer near Berlin, in Brandenburg, at least 200 hectares of forest have burned.
According to a study carried out by the German Forestry Council ((DFWR – Deutscher Forstwirtschaftsrat), the consequences of climate change have caused 15 billion euros in damage to forests in the years 2018–2021.
The chairman of the German Forest Council, Georg Schirmbeck, considers the funding planned by the federal government to be a good but insufficient measure. The Forest Council considers that, in the long term, making forests climate-resilient would require 50 billion euros.
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