1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
German coalition collapseMiddle EastUS election
Travel

April 25th is the day of the tree

April 25, 2018

There are about 90 billion trees in Germany. These forests make up almost a third of the country. Areas of recreation for locals and tourists.

https://p.dw.com/p/2wcV6
Farbencode - Buchenwald im Fruehling
Image: picture-alliance/blickwinkel/R. Bala

International Tree Day has been celebrated in Germany since 1952. In many places it is used as an occasion for planting campaigns. Trees are oxygen producers and bind the climate-damaging CO2 - this makes them indispensable for climate protection. Forests offer numerous animal and plant species a habitat and recreation for humans.

Germany is one of the most densely forested countries in the European Union. According to the German Forest Protection Association, the state with the most forests is Hesse. There, forests cover 42 percent of the land area. The dominant tree species are spruce, pine, beech and oak.

Many forest areas are designated as nature reserves. Five ancient beech forests in Germany, such as the Hainich, even have UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site status. If nature in Germany were free of all human influences, the whole country would be overgrown with similar forests.

ch/ak

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

The Hainich

Hainich - A tour of the national park

Hainich - A tour of the national park

There’s a primeval forest growing in the heart of Germany. The broadleaf forest of the Hainich area in Thüringen with its ancient beeches and more than 8,600 animal species is a protected national park and is a listed UNESCO World Heritage site. (28.03.2015)
CultureMarch 28, 201505:00 min
Deutschland Nationalpark Hainich (Bildergalerie)

Hainich, a National Park and World Heritage Site

Hainich, a National Park and World Heritage Site

There’s a primeval forest growing in the heart of Germany. The forest in Thüringen with its ancient beeches and more than 8,600 species of animals is a protected national park and part of a UNESCO world heritage listing. (17.09.2013)
September 17, 2013