Germany

Led by the NGO Bergwaldprojekt, in partnership with the Yves Rocher Foundation, this project helps replace, create and develop forestland.

Over the last few centuries, Germany has suffered significant deforestation. Coupled with the introduction of monoculture tree-growing, this has led to a loss of biodiversity and a variety of ecosystems. The consequence is that by the end of 2020, Germany had lost 300,000 hectares of woodland. Today, the country’s monoculture forests are highly vulnerable and plagued by parasites. In partnership with the Yves Rocher Foundation, the association Bergwaldprojekt (Mountain Forest Project) has set up an initiative to reforest the Black Forest.

The project

The collaboration between the Yves Rocher Foundation and Bergwaldprojekt dates back to 2011. Since then, we have launched several projects together. The new project launched in 2021 and set to run until 2023 consists of planting 10,000 endemic species per year at various sites in the Black Forest. To do this, Bergwaldprojekt is aiming to run voluntary planting events with members of the Yves Rocher brand.

The volunteers will mainly plant beech, birch and silver fir trees across five different sites. The idea is to introduce techniques to help maintain and respect natural ecosystems. This involves for example introducing a mix of forest species adapted to stable natural ecosystems and planting by hand. This will ensure forestland is restored for young and old alike.

Previous collaborations between the Yves Rocher Foundation and the Bergwaldprojekt association have resulted in 170,000 trees being planted already. With this new partnership, we hope to reach a total of 220,000 trees!

A few words about the NGO

Founded in 1987, the Bergwaldprojekt NGO works to promote conservation, upkeep and regeneration of European forests affected by climate change.

Bergwaldprojekt: nurturing close ties with its volunteers

Each year, around 4,000 volunteers work on the Bergwaldprojekt reforestation projects, primarily young people coming together to secure greener prospects for future generations. Many thanks to them!