Forest

We manage 2000 hectares of forest, much of which are 40–60-year-old pine monocultures, on very poor sandy soils which are far from groundwater. Our goal: to create a multifunctional mixed forest that is climate resilient and diverse.
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The Madlitz Forest

The forests in Brandenburg consist of 70% pine monoculture. Every year our forests in Alt madlitz become more vulnerable to droughts, storms, insects and fires. Our forest is an ecological desert, racing towards disaster, but also holding huge potential for transformation. We want to make the forest an oasis, where people like to spend time and create a space that’s positive.

 

David Jänchen

Forester
No one knows our forest, trees and wildlife as well as forester David. He’s been taking care of our 2000 hectares of forest for many years caring for the pines, beeches and black locust trees, tending to storm damage, new plantings and also hunting. You can rely on David: one phone call and he and his blue SUV come roaring up in no time!

David Borchert

Forester assistant
David is the right hand man to head Forester David Jänchen, be it in the forest or for building fences for our cattle. He is a passionate and very talented welder and has built the grill for all our wild cooking events. And – he is the brother of Mareike and Mani.

"Our forest is an ecological desert which is racing towards disaster, but also holds huge potential for transformation. "

"The forest of the future should be a multifunctional mixed forest, a place of inspiration and strength, and yet a sustainably used source of raw materials. "

Our forest conversion project

In the winter of 2021, we began our first major forest conversion project, made possible by ecover’s Fertilize the Future Fund.

The vision is to create an alternative that fights against the maladaptive monoculture dieback, working towards a climate resilient forest. The first area is our “conservation area” – here we are examining with strict scientific observation how the stock of trees develops without the influence of increased wildlife populations and humans. On the second area, we have cut three holes of about 700 m2 in the tree population and are reforesting them diversely with techniques of seeding and planting. On the third area, we milled flat rows and planted them with seeds and trees. We then cut down about 30% of the existing trees, resulting in a thicket that is impenetrable to deer, to prevent them from eating the young trees. The fourth experimental plot is our syntropic plot. The fifth plot continues to be managed as before and serves as our ‘reference’ plot.

The forest of the future

We believe the forest of the future should be a multifunctional mixed forest where the focus is not purely on short-term economic interests. 
It should be a place of inspiration and strength and yet also a sustainably used source of raw materials.

This includes in the forest maintenance:

  • Leave more deadwood in the stand –> an important water storage and climate buffer
  • Forest edges must be dense and stepped so that the wind does not dry out the forest floor.
  • The interior of the forest should consist of many trees occupying different heights, so that the forest floor remains cool and water is retained.
  •  
    Diverse tree selection is key. It should be well adapted to local soil and climate. Preferably it includes many species and different age trees, distributed in a mosaic fashion throughout.

Game meat from Madlitz

Where there is forest, there is game.
In our agriculture and forestry team, we have a number of trained hunters who view our forest as a complex ecosystem and contribute to forest management through ecologically sound hunting.

Here in Madlitz we have a stock of roe deer, deer (stag) and wild boar. But also the so-called small game, such as hare, pheasant and fox. We would like to regulate our game populations in such a way that we can speak of a forest-compatible game density and can help our forest to regain a diverse and healthy condition.

Research

We conduct on-farm research with our Finck Foundation. We use Gut&Bösel's land to test and develop regenerative, multifunctional forms of land use. With the goal of finding solutions for food systems that are now threatened as never before by climate change, degraded soils, loss of biodiversity and species diversity, and the loss of the relationship between humans and nature and between urban and rural areas.

Landscape park

The park in Madlitz, with its large oak trees and mighty chestnuts, is the oldest English landscape park in Brandenburg.

Tree nursery

Our Syntropic tree nursery is a hybrid between an agroforestry system and a sustainable tree nursery: an ecosystem on its own and at the same time the basis of our future agroforestry systems

Crop production

Alt Madlitz has a very long tradition of arable farming. Today we grow a wide variety of cereals in a six- to eight-part crop rotation, with undersown crops, catch crops and biodiversity strips. Always with soil as the focus!

Agroforestry

Trees are the future! According to the principles of Syntropic agriculture, we have created six agroforestry systems on our farm. They increase soil fertility, help protect our fields against wind and water erosion, ensure cleaner groundwater, store carbon, moderate the microclimate and promote biodiversity.

Compost

Compost is life! And soil is the basis of all our work. That's why we have our own compost department, which takes care of all our microorganisms and nutrient cycles.

Holistic grazing

Cows for the climate! Cows for the climate! Our Salers and Angus herd grazes on our farmland, helping us to sustainably regenerate our soil and promote biodiversity.