RTL Group | Hamburg, 09/27/2023

‘Geo’ Buys Forest On Rügen

With funds from the RTL quiz “Die große Geo-Show” and donations, RTL Deutschland’s “Geo” magazine has purchased four lots amidst an 80-hectare forest on the Baltic Sea Island of Rügen, the “Geo-Wald”. The aim is to create more habitats for the free development of nature in Germany.

Wilderness is rare in Germany. Although almost one third of the local wild plants and more than 7,000 animal species are on the Red List of Threatened Species, Germany has by far failed its self-established wilderness goals. RTL Deutschland’s “Geo” magazine wants to change this and is the first publication in Germany to purchase four lots amidst an 80-hectare forest in the southeast of the Baltic Sea Island of Rügen. The purchase was financed with the square meters played for in the RTL quiz highlight “Die große Geo-Show” and with donations from “Geo” readers. The “Geo-Wald” is a project of the association “Geo schafft Wildnis e.V.” established in 2022 with the support of the Loki Schmidt Foundation, which aims to sustainably secure the forest as part of its foundation land. The association aims to create more habitats for the free development of nature in Germany.

The Goor forest land is located in the southeast of the Baltic Sea Island of Rügen and has been a nature preserve since 1990. Amidst farmland, an old timber forest with hornbeams, bird cherries, sycamores, conifers and copper beeches up to 150 years old was spared from logging. Copper beeches are especially valuable since they only grow in Europe, and Germany is at the center of their presence. Many rare animals, including natterjack toads, Caspian terns and white-tailed eagles, are also native to Goor. Large parts of the Goor forest are today owned by foundations that are giving the forest back to nature. The forest land purchased by “Geo” will now contribute to expanding the existing wilderness and networking it in the 80-hectare forest lot. For species protection, such an area network is important and is an essential condition for animal and plant species to find room for retreat, spread and adaptation.

“If you want to protect nature and species, you have to ensure undisturbed habitats,” says Katharina Schmitz, Editor-in-Chief of “Geo” and Chair of “Geo schafft Wildnis e.V.”. “Therefore, ‘Geo’ is the probably the first publication in Germany to buy a forest: the ‘Geo-Wald’. A patch of wilderness, which from now on serves as a place of retreat for threatened animals and plants, a place where nature can unfold its original power and ensure biodiversity and balance. The ‘Geo-Wald’ thereby contributes to making Germany wilder again.”