Tuesday, 20 June 2023
FSC Staff Tour Cologne City Forest
In May 2023, FSC staff from all over the world gathered in Cologne, Germany for an annual FSC Global Staff Meeting. As part of this meeting, staff had the opportunity to tour a city forest in Cologne’s Outer Green Belt comprised of mixed deciduous forests, large meadows, and ponds in a large recreation area.
In 2010, a reforestation project called the “Cologne Forest Laboratory” was started. The laboratory has many unique features including an “energy forest” (a short-rotation plantation of fast-growing tree species, which are cut every 3 - 5 years to be used for bio-energy), a “climate forest” (square wooded areas which are characterized by one tree species), and a “convertible forest” (tree fields with different tree species that flow into each other).
The creation of the forest laboratory was made possible by donations from the Toyota Deutschland GmbH. The climate forest and the energy forest were financed by RheinEnergie, the regional water and energy supplier, and the planting of the convertible forest was made possible by donations from the Cologne citizens for the reforestation project "A forest for Cologne.”
The forest tour offered the FSC staff an excellent opportunity to learn about leading-edge forest research while also serving as an outdoor break from a week of intensive meetings.