# With your earmarked donation „Broad­leaf trees for the climate“, you support nature-close and future-proof forest conver­sion

CO2 footprint in Germany – how deciduous forests help

Each person in Germany produces an average of 10.4 tonnes of CO2 equiva­lents per year. These emissions are made up of various sectors: consump­tion accounts for the largest share at 28 per cent (clothing, electro­nics, leisure activi­ties), followed by housing at 22 per cent, mobility at 19 per cent and nutri­tion at 15 per cent. To achieve the Paris climate targets, this figure would have to fall to well below one tonne per person per year.

What one hectare of deciduous forest achieves

One hectare of near-natural deciduous forest can bind and store between 10 and 13 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year in the long term. This storage capacity depends on the tree species, age and site condi­tions. A healthy beech forest, for example, stores several hundred tonnes of carbon over its lifetime in the wood, in the soil and in the root mass. In this way, one hectare of site-appro­priate deciduous forest theore­ti­cally compen­sates for around one person’s annual CO2 emissions

Forests are our most important natural air condi­tioner

With every new deciduous tree planted, you promote CO₂ storage and help improve air quality and slow global warming. However, not every tree is suited to every site. With your support, Trinkwasserwald e.V. there­fore focuses on planting site-appro­priate deciduous trees in order to plant climate-resilient and species-rich mixed deciduous forests where former conife­rous forests, planted far from their natural site, are already suffe­ring from climate change and have been severely damaged.

Climate-resilient and fit for the future

Site-appro­priate deciduous trees such as European beech, sessile oak or hornbeam are adapted to regional soil and climate condi­tions. They grow more steadily, promote humus forma­tion, store rainwater, withstand drought and storms better, and thus help secure the develo­p­ment of climate-resilient and future-proof forests. Such forests can bind CO₂ in the long term, provide habitat for count­less animal and plant species and protect our most valuable asset: clean drinking water.

Plant the future

With your donation, you help actively drive forward the natural trans­for­ma­tion of the forest. Every contri­bu­tion supports new plantings that give native forests back their protec­tion, diver­sity and stabi­lity. In this way, you not only support climate action, but also the preser­va­tion of our natural basis for life.

More # Forest knowledge

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More about our donation needs:

Your support helps!

It helps promote climate-resilient mixed broad­leaf forests, an improved ground­water recharge rate, biodi­ver­sity and a sustainable society.

Regular donations give the associa­tion planning security, the oppor­tu­nity to tackle even large environ­mental protec­tion projects and to build up specia­list staff for this purpose. Important for good engage­ment for forest and water.

Especi­ally for larger donations, we ask you to transfer your donation directly, and thus free of fees for us.

For a donation by bank transfer, please use our donation account at

Kreis­spar­kasse Soltau

IBAN: DE42258516600000595959

BIC: NOLADE21SOL

Please state „Spende“ as the payment reference or the corre­spon­ding project you would like to support, as well as your address for the donation receipt. Thank you for your support!

With your donation, you support in accordance with our association’s purpose the planting of broad­leaf trees in order to promote mixed broad­leaf forests, ground­water recharge, biodi­ver­sity and a sustainable society. With your donation, we select suitable damaged areas, conclude agree­ments with landow­ners to ensure the ecolo­gical objec­tives, prepare the areas, order the planting material, plant, provide wildlife protec­tion, carry out monito­ring of the areas, involve young and old as well as ecology and economy in our environ­mental protec­tion actions, create aware­ness through environ­mental educa­tion, promote dialogue between a wide range of interest groups, pay salaries and carry out the legally required adminis­tra­tive work. We appre­ciate every donation. If you dedicate your contri­bu­tion to a specific purpose, we will endea­vour to use it accor­dingly. Should this no longer be possible or neces­sary, your donation will go to other statu­tory purposes of the associa­tion Trinkwasserwald e.V. We thank you since­rely for your under­stan­ding.

Tax-deduc­tible donations

Donations to Trinkwasserwald e.V. are tax-deduc­tible.
All cash and in-kind donations to the non-profit environ­mental protec­tion associa­tion Trinkwasserwald e.V. are tax-deduc­tible under Section 10b of the Income Tax Act, up to the amount eligible for donation deduc­tions.
Trinkwasserwald e.V. is recog­nised as a non-profit organi­sa­tion by the Hamburg Nord tax office.

Cash and in-kind donations from compa­nies to Trinkwasserwald e.V. can be claimed as special expenses at the tax office up to 20 per cent of total income or up to 4 per mille of total turnover plus the wages and salaries paid in the calendar year, and can there­fore be deducted from tax.

Cash and in-kind donations up to a value of EUR 300 can be submitted to the tax office without a donation receipt and by bank state­ment. For this simpli­fied proof of donation (§ 50 para. 2 no. 2 letter b EStDV), an additional document showing the details of the recipient of the donation must also be enclosed. You can download the form for simpli­fied proof of a donation to Trinkwasserwald e.V. here.

Donations and in-kind donations with a value of more than EUR 300 must be verified by means of a donation receipt issued by the recipient of the donation. That is why the non-profit environ­mental protec­tion associa­tion Trinkwasserwald e.V. sends all supporters whose indivi­dual donation exceeds EUR 300 a donation receipt to be submitted to their local tax office. This confirms that the cash or in-kind donation is used for a tax-privi­leged purpose within the meaning of §§ 51 ff. AO. To receive a donation receipt or confir­ma­tion of donation, the supporters’ contact details must be stated in the payment reference.

Further hotspots

  • #Hotspots

    Planting events „Wald in Not“ in the Harz

    Since 2017, drought and bark beetle infesta­tion have caused more than 900,000 hectares of forest across Germany — mostly non-native and monocul­tural conife­rous forests — to die off, as the satel­lite data published in September 2025 by the German Aerospace Center […]