11.4 million hectares of land are forested in Germany – around a third of the country's total area – and almost half of these forests are under private ownership. The distribution of land and estates has meant that many forests have been fragmented and sub-divided into increasingly small plots. Nowadays, many landowners and communities of heirs own very small areas, have hardly any experience in forest management, and often do not even know where the borders of their property lie.
However, leaving the forest to simply be a forest is also out of the question, as ownership always involves responsibility too, and ideally pleasure and return on investment as well. This is where wald-wird-mobil.de comes in. Since 2007, this non-profit limited company has been advising private forest owners and forestry associations, presenting targeted courses of action in the handling of owned forests, and developing innovative practical solutions.
Markus von Willert and Johanna Reinkemeier work as project managers for wald-wird-mobil.de: