Climate change has a firm grip on us and is causing our native forests to suffer more and more. That’s why we want to help and have launched a project to support the forest in Germany.

In 2021, we reached out and searched for a damaged piece of forest that we could take care of. And look! After a long search, many conversations, and calls, we found it: our future wijld forest. Covering over 81,000 m², the still quite sparse forest area in Sauerland near Marsberg is just waiting to be planted and restored!

And that’s where you come in, because this passion project can only be achieved together, and with every order on wijld.com, you’re helping to protect a piece of forest. For each order, exactly 0.6 m² of forest area will be reforested and maintained by us to one day create a healthy forest. This task won’t be easy and is quite challenging. Creating a healthy ecosystem requires a lot of planning, time, and patience. For an area of 8.1 hectares, we currently estimate planting around 10,500 trees. Depending on how many large and small tree species we need for a well-balanced mixed forest, the number may vary slightly. Before each planting, it’s also essential to carefully check which main and secondary trees are suitable for the location and will provide the greatest long-term benefit for nature and the environment.

But just the thought that our forest (once it has grown big and strong) can absorb up to 81 tons of CO² annually makes us shine with joy and full of motivation to get planting!

It is especially important to us that everyone can actively participate and witness the progress of our reforestation and renaturation efforts. That’s why we want to enable anyone interested, as well as school classes or forestry science students, to accompany Waldemar during its development and help shape our project.

However, our forest in Sauerland is just the first of many more forests we want to protect. Our long-term goal is to save as many forest areas affected by the climate crisis and damaged by environmental harm as possible. This is also where our idea came from: through forest sponsorships and together with you, we want to speed up our work—not only to protect the first 8.1 hectares of forest for the future but to acquire and restore additional areas as quickly as possible. After all, together we can always achieve more.

Did you know that the term “sustainability” originates from forestry? Due to an increasing regional shortage of wood, modern forestry emerged in the early 18th century, replacing the previously dominant uncontrolled exploitation of forests. The basic idea of sustainable forestry can be summarized as only using as much wood as can naturally regrow. Sustainable forestry also ensures that newly planted trees are not monocultures, which are more vulnerable to pests, damage the soil, and take away habitats from animals.

But how can you both plant trees and use wood for, for example, clothing? What might initially seem contradictory makes much more sense once you understand the background:

Processing trees is actually right and important. At its best, a tree produces oxygen, provides habitat, and stores CO². With trees from sustainable forestry, the focus is on making optimal use of the CO² stored in them, which is why they are only harvested after many years. If this didn’t happen, many would die from lack of light or fungal infections, rot, and release the stored carbon back into the air. The harvested trees therefore act as a long-term CO² storage and are perfectly suited to be used as an eco-friendly material in various fields.