Press release December 2025

2025: 95,600 location-appro­priate deciduous trees of 23 diffe­rent species were planted on 28.15 hectares of former conifer forest areas damaged by disease in

Hamburg, 18 December 2025 – The environ­mental protec­tion associa­tion Drinking Water Forest e. V. draws an impres­sive balance sheet for the year 2025: 95,600 location-appro­priate deciduous trees of 23 diffe­rent species were planted on 28.15 hectares of former conifer forest areas damaged by disease planted – thanks to the generous support of numerous compa­nies that, despite econo­mic­ally diffi­cult times, made a clear state­ment in favour of environ­mental and climate protec­tion.

A parti­cular focus this year was on the Harz, which since 2018 has lost over 90 % of its once widespreadäspruce forärestock , due to drought and massive bark beetle infesta­tions. With 17,500 deciduous trees planted Drinking Water Forest e. V. is making an important contri­bu­tion here to the ecolo­gical revival of one of Germany’s most heavily damaged forest regions.

 

Forest in need

German forests are incre­asingly suffe­ring the effects of climate change:

• Accor­ding to Forest condi­tion survey 2025 only every fifth tree is still considered healthy.¹
• A Nature study 2025 provi­ding evidence that dieback events, crown dieback and reduced growth rates signi­fi­cantly impair forests’ important ability to store carbon.²
• An analysis by the German Aerospace Center (DLR, 2025) even shows: since the drought years, it isn’t 500,000 but 900,000 hectares of forest that has died in Germany.³

 

Nature-based conver­sion of forests for water and biodi­ver­sity

Forests are a habitat, a climate regulator, a place for recrea­tion, a source of raw materials and the founda­tion of our drinking water supply. So that they can continue to meet these diverse tasks in the future, the conver­sion of conifer monocul­tures into diverse, climate-resilient mixed broad­leaf forests.

As one hectare of mixed broad­leaf forest, compared to conifer forests, increases ground­water recharge by 500,000 to up to 1,200,000 litres helps—compared to previous conifer forest areas—with the 28.15 hectares replanted in 2025 by Trink­was­ser­wald e.V., impro­ving the future ground­water yield each year by an average of 22,5 million litres improve—there is a clear gain in drinking water supply, which largely origi­nates under forests.

 

At this year’s planting events with Trink­was­ser­wald e. V., parti­ci­pants included 682 adults and 106 children, while taking part at the same time in environ­mental educa­tion activi­ties. They learned why their commit­ment is so important – forests are crucial for biodi­ver­sity, humus forma­tion, carbon sequestra­tion and the Safeguar­ding drinking water resources.

 

Quote

„We live in a time in which armed conflicts and economic uncer­tain­ties are pushing many issues into the background – unfort­u­na­tely often environ­mental protec­tion too,“ says Kirsten vom Heu, Chair of Trink­was­ser­wald e. V. „All the more impres­sive is how many compa­nies and people continue to show solida­rity with our forest in need. This commit­ment gives us courage. Nature-oriented forest conver­sion is not a luxury project, but an invest­ment in our shared future, because our lives are insepa­rably depen­dent on sustainable forest ecosys­tems – on their biodi­ver­sity, clean water and their sustainable timber.“

 

About Trink­was­ser­wald e. V.

Since 1995, Drinking Water Forest e. V. has been active throug­hout Germany for nature-oriented forest conver­sion, in order to safeguard forests, drinking water and biodi­ver­sity in the long term. With thousands of volun­teers to date, the associa­tion makes a measurable contri­bu­tion to streng­thening climate-tolerant deciduous mixed forests and to raising aware­ness in society of the importance of healthy ecosys­tems.

 

                                                                                                                                                                 

Sources

¹ https://www.bmleh.de/DE/themen/wald/wald-in-deutschland/waldzustandserhebung.html

² Recent 2025 Nature publi­ca­tion on the weake­ning carbon sinks of EU forests, led by an inter­na­tional team inclu­ding Markus Reich­stein (Max Planck Insti­tute for Biogeo­che­mistry, Jena), https://www.bgc-jena.mpg.de/pm-klimaschuetzende-kohlenstoffsenken-der-eu-waelder-werden-schwaecher

³ https://www.dlr.de/de/aktuelles/nachrichten/2025/satellitendaten-fuer-deutsche-waelder-in-not

 

 

Press contact:

Trink­was­ser­wald e. V.

Kirsten vom Heu, Chair

info@trinkwasserwald.de

0 40 386 66 430

Lange Straße 22, 20359 Hamburg