Bergwaldprojekt eV

The Bergwaldprojekt was founded in 1987 on the initiative of Wolfgang Lohbeck (Greenpeace Deutschland) and the Swiss forester Renato Ruf in connection with the forest dieback debate. In 1990, the independent Swiss foundation Bergwaldprojekt was established with its headquarters in Trin (GR), and in 1993, the German association Bergwaldprojekt e.V. was founded, currently based in Würzburg.
The non-profit association consists of 25 voluntary members and is independent, non-partisan, and ideologically neutral.
A large circle of volunteer group leaders, freelance workers from forestry and education, as well as nearly 35 permanent employees form the basis for our work during project weeks, but also with companies in the context of CV deployments. Here, we carry out work in various natural areas together with over 4,000 volunteers (2022) in the fields of moor rewetting, forest restructuring, open land maintenance, trail and path construction, etc. The participant group is diverse and ranges from family weeks to school weeks to deployments with refugees or people with physical or mental disabilities, and finally to adults of all ages and professional backgrounds.
In doing so, the Bergwaldprojekt aims to make an active contribution through its concrete work to sustainably and permanently preserve the biodiversity of local forest communities and to establish a socially compatible and ecological forest use, but also to achieve a societal change towards a climate- and nature-compatible sustainable way of life.
The financing of our work is provided through private donations and sponsorship memberships, collaborations with companies, and through the project partners on whose land we operate.