Is it possible to protect (primeval) forests in Germany? If so, why doesn't WI do so?

For the global climate and the preservation of biodiversity, protecting the temperate and tropical rainforests in Canada and Peru is a much more effective, larger, and faster lever than protecting forests in Germany. But we have little time left to protect the last remaining rainforests on Earth before they disappear forever. The loss of these forests would not only mean that they could no longer fulfill their global ecosystem services, but also that huge amounts of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere, which would have catastrophic consequences for our climate.

Peru and Canada still have intact ecosystems and primeval forests with a high level of biodiversity and trees that are thousands of years old. We are not currently protecting any forests in Germany because, unfortunately, there are no comparable wilderness areas of significant size and hardly any primeval forest left. Thanks to the comparatively low purchase price, we can permanently protect very large, ecologically valuable areas in Peru and Canada with less money and with legal certainty. In Germany, these primeval forests must first be restored, as in recent decades forests have been converted into monocultures, similar to industrial agriculture.

Nevertheless, it naturally makes sense to protect German forests. For us, it is not a question of "either/or," but rather "both/and." Protecting smaller, fragmented areas is generally more expensive because the administrative and maintenance costs are higher. In addition, there are stricter requirements and significantly higher land prices. Our projects in Germany focus primarily on environmental education. 

If you want to protect forests in Germany, we can offer you recommend the primeval forest project run by Peter Wohlleben's Forest Academy . This project clearly shows that it is much more expensive to protect forests in Germany. Furthermore, they are not protected indefinitely, but only for 30 years. However, that does not mean that forests in Germany do not necessarily need to be protected!