Forest owner of SUPERB demo site wins German Forest Award 2025
Torsten Dörmbach, a forest owner and practitioner in the Wipperfürth demo area of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), has been awarded the German Forest Award 2025 in the category forest owner.
After bark beetles and drought wiped out his spruce stands in 2018, Dörmbach didn’t just replant. He used the setback to transform 45 hectares of family-owned forest into a resilient mixed woodland. Nearly 60,000 young trees from 39 different species now grow on his land – part of a long-term effort to build climate-adapted, biodiverse forests.
In line with SUPERB’s mission, his approach combines ecological insight with hands-on action:
– Relying on natural regeneration, where young oaks now thrive without planting
– Allowing dead trees to stand as hunting perches for birds of prey and shelter for wildlife
– Managing game populations to give new trees a chance to grow
– Recognizing the value of species like rowan, once removed as weeds, as part of a more diverse and resilient forest – reflecting a shift in forestry knowledge and practice.
While it may take decades before the forest becomes economically viable again, Dörmbach is thinking ahead – not only for his family, but for the entire Bergisches Land region. If restoration efforts succeed, he says, the forest will once again provide essential ecosystem services like clean water, air filtration, erosion control and climate change buffering.
Find the original article here (in German)
Photo: WDR
