The trees helping German forests tackle climate change

Mediterranean trees are being planted in German forests -

Scientists hope that the southern European transplants will help the woodland survive climate change.

Enter the South Hesse Oak Project.

Years of summer heatwaves and minimal rainfall are damaging the country's forests, with some native species like pine and oak struggling with the changing conditions.

Researchers working on the project have had success planting downy oak trees, which normally grow in the Mediterranean and the south of France, in Frankfurt's city forest.

Wolfgang Brueggemann is the project's research head.

"Manmade climate change will significantly increase the problem of high temperatures and drought in the coming decades. In addition there are problems with the groundwater, which we are seeing across Germany. So we need to adapt our German forests."

Brueggemann said the trees had grown four metres and more over the last nine years and survived three dry summers in a row without sustaining any damage.

The downy oak is closely related to the native German oak and so can help to fill its role in the ecosystem.

Although the 2020 summer has not been as dry as first feared, changing weather patterns are causing damage across Germany and beyond.