Fresh, green moss in the pine forest by Silva Wischeropp

This relaxed, green forest motif was taken on 28 August 2021 in the late afternoon hours in the rural area of Märkisch-Oderland. The photo was taken with the NIKON D90 camera (lens: SIGMA 18.0-70.0 mm f/3.5-4.5).

Today, a good third of Germany's total area is covered by forest. That is about 11.1 million hectares. Without human influence, almost the entire land area of Germany would be forested. Only areas that do not allow trees to grow and spread would be forest-free. These include, for example, moors, extremely dry locations or the altitudes of mountains above the so-called tree line.

Without humans, the native copper beech (Fagus sylvatica) would be the dominant tree species in our forests, accounting for a good 75% of the area. Today, a good 70 different tree species can be found in German forests and over 60% of the forest consists of conifers. Spruces and pines in particular often dominate the forest landscape in so-called pure stands. Although many of the existing beech forests are protected as Natura 2000 sites, they too are severely damaged: the persistent drought of recent years, air pollutants and harmful forestry practices have taken their toll.

But our forests are also in a bad state in general. Forest fires and the bark beetle pest are also putting a strain on the trees. Back in spring 2020, NABU estimated that the damaged forest area could increase to 500,000 hectares in 2020, which is almost five per cent of the forest area.