AS A CHILD IN THE 1980S, Prince Constantin zu
Salm-Salm cherished walks with his grandfa-
ther through the two cathedral-like forests the
family owned near an ancestral castle in central
Germany. The 432-acre spreads of Norway spruce
and Douglas fir, planted decades before he was
born, were an investment—one the young prince
hoped to inherit someday.
That all changed on a February night in 1990,
when a hurricane named Wiebke hit the area
with winds over 120 miles an hour, battering the
tree-covered hillsides around Wallhausen.
After the storm finally passed, the two
walked through the forests. Hundreds of tow-
ering 40-year-old spruces lay toppled. “He was
in tears,” the prince recalls. “The big question
my grandfather had to answer was, What do
we do now?”
Today Germans face a similar reckoning but on
a much larger scale. Since 2018, central Europe
has experienced four straight years of drought
or unusually high temperatures. Devastating
bark beetle infestations have wiped out tens of
thousands of acres of German spruce stands.
Meanwhile, forest fires have sent woodsmoke
wafting into the center of Berlin. In forest- loving
Germany, the situation has sparked a national
debate over how to respond. One option is
to plant trees, replacing what’s been lost with
mo re of the same.
The wooded hills around Wallhausen repre-
sent another possibility. Prince Salm is part of
a growing group of German forest owners who
have turned to what’s known as close-to-nature
forestry. This hands-off approach avoids tree
planting when possible and advocates largely
sticking to native species. The aim is to replicate
the ecosystems of wild forests by leaving dead-
wood behind and selectively harvesting only the
most mature trees.PRINCE SALM’S FAMILY have cultivated wine
in the area for more than 800 years. After the
devastating impacts of Wiebke they came to an
unusual decision. “We said, ‘Nature knows better
what should be here,’ ” Prince Salm says.
Their forests are an hour west of Frankfurt, on
north-facing slopes that can’t support vineyards.
Aside from hunting deer and wild boars, and
harvesting some of the biggest trees each year,
they leave the forests largely alone.
On a late fall day not long ago, Prince Salm
plunges through his forest in green rubber bootsA NEW
PLAN IN
GERMANY:
LEAVE
FORESTS
ALONE
AND
ALLOW
NATURE
TO
HEAL
ITSELF
SOLUTIONBY
ANDREW CURRY