Involvement in the “Hamburg’s logistics plants the future” initiative
This year, the Logistics Initiative Hamburg (LIHH) once again organized several planting days together with its member companies in the Klövensteen forest, located in the Hamburg-Altona region. A delegation from PTA IT-Beratung was also part of the party in November. With 3,325 trees donated, around 200 participants from 32 LIHH member companies once again sent a strong signal for more sustainability, nature conservation, regional commitment and collaboration this year.
Transforming monocultures, improving groundwater quality
While bright sunshine made the planting work easier for the participants, the late summer atmosphere also provided the tree sponsors with a thoughtful view of the surrounding nature. After all, such mild temperatures are unusual for mid-November. Storms, the extreme drought and the bark beetle infestation have taken a huge toll on the forests in recent years. In order to promote the recharge and filtration of regional groundwater and improve the resilience of forests, it is important to convert conifer monocultures into the original mixed deciduous forest. Extrapolated to one year, every deciduous tree planted promotes the formation of up to 200 liters of groundwater and therefore drinking water. This is precisely where the network campaign “Hamburg’s logistics plants the future” comes in.
Without the active support of external helpers, the conversion is almost impossible to manage
The environmental initiative is doing a remarkable job. In the Klövensteen forest, there are numerous coniferous monocultures on an area of around 513 hectares. The local forestry department has been persistently converting these for twenty years and reforesting the area with a more climate-resistant mixed forest. And every helping hand is more than welcome for the responsible forestry office. If it were left to its own devices to convert the forest, reforestation would take over 500 years, as the district foresters in Klövensteen can manage around one hectare of forest a year on their own. In addition, the procurement of the seedlings leads to a considerable cost burden. The planting days organized by Klimapatenschaft GmbH, which is responsible for organizing the activities in the Klövensteen forest, literally fall on fertile ground: This is because the trees planted on the planting days are financed by donations from the participating companies.
The initiative has achieved notable successes
And the planting days, which have been regularly supported by the forestry department for eight years now, are proving successful. Although the correct planting of a tree is basically an activity that is usually carried out by specialist personnel, the growth rate of those trees that are planted during the planting days is very high at around 95 percent. This is because each group is assigned a member of the forest ranger’s staff on a planting day to ensure that the young trees are given the best starting conditions for healthy and strong growth under his expert guidance. And this realization gives everyone involved hope that the more than 3,300 copper beeches planted in November in the Klövensteen forest will also make a valuable contribution to protecting the environment and the climate in future.
Photos: Logistics Initiative Hamburg / PTA
