Sustainability is the focus of a unique cooperation project
There are not many universities in Germany that have their own forest growing. In Paderborn, this is being achieved through a unique cooperation between the university, the city and the Willebadessen Community Forestry Office. Since 2021, the campus forest has been growing in the Haxtergrund recreation area just outside Paderborn and not far from the university. On an area that was almost devoid of trees due to storms and bark beetles, the project participants have ensured meticulous reforestation under expert guidance.
But the action is far from over with the planting. "Sustainability is important to us," says Dennis Kehne, who has accompanied the project on behalf of the university's university sports department from the beginning. "After the planting comes the care, and here students and university staff alike are involved with great commitment." The maintenance measures directly serve the growth of the new trees. This includes removing brambles and other overgrowing plants that cover freshly planted trees. In addition, those involved are already preparing new areas for planting in the coming winter.
Several goals are being achieved with the development of the campus forest: promoting physical activity through communal activities in nature, sustainable landscape conservation and imparting knowledge about the forest ecosystem and its importance in times of climate change. Interdisciplinarity is in the foreground and the success proves the initiators right: in the meantime, the area provided by the city is richly overgrown with young trees - around 15,000 trees can be found on an area of about six hectares. A mixed forest with 12 tree species is being created here, which, according to the forestry experts, is likely to be climate-sensitive.
During a first joint inspection after the start of the project, the participants from the university, the city and the municipal forestry office were convinced of the condition of the campus forest. The past dry spells have also affected new plantations. Nevertheless, the comparatively rainy start to the year has been good for the local forests.
Now the aim is to continue to actively accompany the development of the forest area at this exposed location - numerous hiking trails run along the edge of the campus forest. The main focus is on forest maintenance, but also on imparting forest knowledge. Here, those responsible are counting on the continued commitment of the students and the university staff. "In view of the numerous positive feedbacks, we experience that there is a great forest attachment," Kehne is pleased to say. "Those who put tree plants in the ground themselves feel responsible to a certain extent for their flourishing and are committed in a sustainable way."
