When we plant deciduous trees together, we do so in monoculture conifer forests or in areas of damaged conifer forest that have become ill and died off due to drought and damaging events. As a result, our deciduous tree plantings create drinking-water forests.
A drinking-water forest…
is a former conifer forest that has been converted into a climate-resilient mixed deciduous forest through deciduous tree planting. A drinking-water forest converted in this way can improve groundwater recharge—according to available studies and climate modelling—by 500,000 to up to 1,200,000 litres per year and per hectare..
Because a large proportion of our drinking water is drawn from groundwater, which is formed by rainfall—almost half—captured and stored in our forests, our drinking-water forests are extremely important. For example, one hectare of drinking-water forest can supply 450 to 1,100 people for a year with 3 litres of drinking water per day—families, neighbours, children, friends and staff who depend on it every day.
Mixed deciduous forests have many advantages: they are considered climate-resilient And because they can absorb rainwater better, they are more resistant to droughts. They cool better on hot days, as well as the surrounding environment. They support more species, improve humus formation and minimise damage events, since the risk is spread across different tree species and the balance between pests and beneficial insects is improved through greater biodiversity. And they provide us with wood.
This is how the deciduous trees we plant together can protect our most important livelihoods.
More forest. Water. Values.
- #Forest. Water. Values.
Forests are not only the green lungs of our planet – they also act as a buffer in the climate system. During photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon and store it in the form of organic compounds in […]
- #Forest. Water. Values.
Our source collection: studies and technical reports on biodiversity, groundwater recharge, humus formation, climate resilience and cooling—used to demonstrate the benefits of mixed leaf forests.
- #Forest. Water. Values.
Mushrooms are among the oldest living organisms on Earth. Their history goes back more than one billion years – long before the first plants or animals existed. Fossil finds show that mushrooms were already present in the early developmental phases […]