Bergwaldprojekt e.V.
Höchberg, Bavaria, Germany · Nonprofit · National · since 1993
Week-long volunteer work camps restoring forests, peatlands and open habitats across Germany
About
Bergwaldprojekt e.V. is a German non-profit association founded in 1993 (registered at Amtsgericht Würzburg, office in Höchberg near Würzburg) that organises free, week-long volunteer project weeks in which participants plant native trees, protect young trees from browsing, rewet peatlands and tend open-land habitats together with forest owners and national parks. It grew out of the Swiss Stiftung Bergwaldprojekt (Trin, founded 1990), a separate sister foundation that runs the same model in Switzerland. In 2024 it ran 251 project deployments with 5,100 participants (159 regular volunteer weeks, 16 single days, 33 corporate volunteering projects, 30 Waldschule weeks with schools), including 15 one-day 'Neihaufeschte' planting festivals at which 1,127 people planted 29,722 native trees. With the Greenpeace environmental foundation it co-owns the 280-hectare Zukunftswald Unterschönau in the Thuringian Forest, and since 2024 it monitors planting success on a sample of 80 plots.
What they run
Free week-long work camps (Sunday to Saturday) at around 95 project sites in Germany where volunteers plant native broadleaf trees, build browsing protection, rewet peatland and tend biotopes; lodging and food provided, travel self-paid.
One-day planting and habitat-care festivals for up to 150 volunteers; in 2024 15 Neihaufeschte at 12 sites planted 29,722 native trees.
Project weeks with schools, universities and youth-welfare institutions combining practical forest work with education for sustainable development; 30 weeks with 581 participants in 2024.
Demonstration forest in the Thuringian Forest co-owned with the Umweltstiftung Greenpeace (200 ha from the start, plus 80 ha bought in October 2024) managed as a model for near-natural, ecosystem-oriented forestry.
Trees by type of work
| Activity | Trees | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 🌲 Reforestation | 29,722 | 2024 |
Only figures attached to a named program count here. Organization-wide totals sit in the table below.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds raised (USD) | 2024 | 4,586,000 | Organization-wide | Estimated | sourceJahresbericht 2024, p.31 Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung: 'Summe Ertrag' 2024 = EUR 4.246.334 (2023: EUR 4.185.661), of which EUR 1.970.540 is earned income from forest and corporate partners (Zweckbetrieb) and EUR 900.281 corporate donations. Converted at approx. 1.08 USD/EUR (2024 average). |
| Survival rate (%) | 2024 | 90 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceJahresbericht 2024, p.18: first planting-success monitoring on a sample of 80 plots with at least 1,000 trees planted in the last 3 years found 'ca. 90 % der Baumpflanzungen positiv entwickeln'. |
| Volunteers engaged | 2024 | 5,100 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceJahresbericht 2024, p.13 table 'Teilnehmende' total (Summe) 2024: 5.100 participants across 251 Projekteinsätze and 1.421 project days (2023: 4.332 / 214 / 1.242); 24.821 work days. |
| Trees planted | 2024 | 29,722 | Neihaufeschte planting festivals | Self-reported | sourceJahresbericht 2024, p.13: 'Im Jahr 2024 fanden 15 Neihaufeschte an 12 verschiedenen Projektorten statt, an denen 1.127 Personen insgesamt 29.722 standortheimische Bäume gepflanzt ... haben.' The report gives no org-wide tree total for 2024; other stated plantings include over 2,500 trees at new Black Forest sites and 3,350 trees at single-day deployments in Ebersberg and Breckerfeld. |
How they report
What earned it
- 5/20 Publishes annual tree figures: 1 year of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)
- 15/15 Figures are recent: Latest annual figure is for 2024
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 4 of 4 figures link to a source
- 15/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: Revenue or cost-per-tree figure on record
- 15/15 Reports survival or monitoring: Survival rate on record
- 0/10 Independently verified figure: All figures are the organization's own
- 10/10 Breaks figures down by program: Figures attached to named programs
- 5/5 Reports volunteers or events: Volunteer figures on record
- Latest annual figure
- 29,722 trees in 2024
- Trees per volunteer
- 5.8 in 2024
- Dollars raised per tree
- $154 in 2024
- Survival
- 90% (2024, reported)
- Compare
- Put Bergwaldprojekt e.V. next to others · method
Upcoming events
- Projektwoche 137D2026 Alt-Buchhorst (Landkreis Oder-Spree)RegisterSun, Nov 15, 2026, 4:00 PM GMT+1 · Volunteer planting · Grünheide (Mark)
- Projektwoche 139D2026 Marktheidenfelder Platte (Mainfranken)RegisterSun, Nov 15, 2026, 4:00 PM GMT+1 · Other · Marktheidenfeld
- Projektwoche 143D2026 Ueckermünder Heide (Ostvorpommersches Küstenland)RegisterSun, Nov 22, 2026, 4:00 PM GMT+1 · Volunteer planting · Ueckermünde
- Projektwoche 141D2026 Bad Wildbad (Nordschwarzwald)RegisterSun, Nov 22, 2026, 4:00 PM GMT+1 · Volunteer planting · Bad Wildbad
- Projektwoche 142D2026 Spessart (Naturpark Spessart)RegisterSun, Nov 22, 2026, 4:00 PM GMT+1 · Volunteer planting · Spessart