Replacement afforestation

Compensating clearances in a legally sound way

Forest enjoys special legal protection. Anyone who uses woodland for a construction project and permanently converts it to a different type of use needs a conversion permit under the forestry law of the respective federal state. This permit is generally combined with the condition of establishing new woodland elsewhere.

For project developers, this is a second, independent obligation alongside compensation under nature conservation law. It is often underestimated, because it falls under a different area of law, is handled by a different authority, and brings its own deadlines and site requirements. Anyone who only starts searching for a site after the permit decision has been issued loses a growing season.

greeNature takes on the entire process, from coordination with the forestry authority through site provision and planting to crop management and inspection of the secured stand.

Forestry law and nature conservation law run in parallel

A clearance typically triggers two procedures. Under forestry law, it concerns the conversion and the replacement afforestation. Under nature conservation law, it concerns the impact mitigation regulation under §§ 13 to 15 BNatSchG, because the loss of a woodland stand is at the same time a significant impact on nature and landscape. Special species protection under § 44 BNatSchG is often added, because forests provide roosts for bats, breeding sites for raptors and cavity-nesting birds, and habitat for the hazel dormouse.

In practice, this means: replacement afforestation does not automatically cover compensation under nature conservation law, and vice versa. Dual crediting is only possible if the authorities expressly permit it. greeNature brings both strands together and clarifies early what can be credited and what must be provided additionally.

Process

1. Survey the stand. Forest characteristics, stocking, age, forest functions and protection status of the affected site.
2. Clarify requirements. Conversion factor, required spatial relationship and tree species requirements under state forestry law and the permit decision.
3. Provide the site. An afforestation site from our own portfolio or targeted acquisition within the required growth region.
4. Permitting. Coordination with the forestry authority, new afforestation permit, clarification of planning law questions.
5. Plant. Soil preparation, planting with site-appropriate provenances, wildlife protection through fencing or individual protection.
6. Management and inspection. Crop management, replanting, documentation up to the secured stand and official inspection.

Choosing tree species under climate pressure

Replacement afforestation should not just formally establish woodland, but endure permanently. Dry years, bark beetle infestation and late frosts have shown in recent years how quickly plantations fail when tree species and site do not match.

We therefore work with site-appropriate mixtures and pay attention to the provenance of the planting stock. On heavy loam and Keuper soils, oak and hornbeam form the backbone, supplemented by small-leaved lime, field maple and wild service tree. In floodplains and wet hollows, black alder, European white elm and ash come into consideration, whereby ash dieback caused by the false white cup fungus must be taken into account in the mixture. On dry, shallow sites, the focus is on sessile oak, field maple and wild fruit trees.

Mixed stands are not an end in themselves. They spread the risk of failure, stabilise the stand against storms and insect infestation, and at the same time meet the forestry authorities’ expectations for near-natural silviculture.

Regional differences

Because forestry law is state law, requirements differ considerably between the federal states. This concerns the conversion factor, the definition of the spatial relationship, the permissibility of a forest conservation levy, and the requirements on tree species and planting arrangement. Which regulations apply to your project depends on the location. On the federal state pages, you will find the relevant basis for each.