Since 2018, 500,000 hectares of forest have been lost in Germany and more than 60% of the biomass in the European Union is at climate risk because of the consequences of the climate crisis. To reduce the risk of forest loss due to wildfires, droughts, floodings, and pest infestations, around 3 million hectares of forest in Germany have to be restructured from monocultures to biodiverse, mixed forests.
The climate project Kessel Lake is currently made of a monoculture forest of pine trees and uniform tree heights. Thereby, the forest is vulnerable to climate-related disasters such as storms, heat stress, and beetle infestations.
To make the forest more resilient against the consequences of climate change, the following measures get implemented:
- planting diverse, climate-resilient tree species such as oak, birch, beech, robinia, douglas fir, western red cedar, and coast fir,
- stimulating natural rejuvenation by single tree harvesting,
- wildlife management to prevent serious forest damage.
By implementing these measures, the Kessel Lake climate project avoids and removes carbon emissions from the atmosphere, by decreasing the climate risk of the forest and increasing its structural diversity.
As these activities and forest adaptation as a whole take time, Pina Earth has a long-term perspective, working with forest owners for a project runtime of 30 years, ensuring permanence and having the option to extend the project runtime. To do so, we developed a brand-new, AI-based simulation that allows us to predict forest growth and carbon stocks under climate change impacts for more than 30 years into the future.
The project was developed according to ISO 14064-2 and certified by the validation body TÜV Nord.