Establishing new business models with NWFP

The project "sustainable bee forest" develops and implements a new forest management concept that improves the habitat of flower-pollinating insects during re- and afforestation from the very beginning while generating new sources of income from non-wood forest products. It is based in the state of Hesse in the middle of Germany, which is one of the most densely forested states in Germany. A quarter of the total forest area in Hesse is privately owned, and one third of this is small-scale private forest is owned by farmers. Because many of them are challenged with forest dieback in the face of climate change, the smallholder farmers are the main target group of the “sustainable bee forest” OG. By focusing on product innovation with NWFP, the OG aims at diversifying sources of income from forest management.