Dirk Hennig, head of the forest education centre Walderlebniszentrum Soonwald, welcomed participants to the event, emphasizing the importance of the centre as a space for academic and professional exchange. He also highlighted the growing interest in the viSiOONWALD event series and thanked the partners involved in its organization, namely Hochschule Geisenheim University, the Regionalbündnis Soonwald-Nahe e.V., and Naturpark Soonwald-Nahe. There were also further welcome addresses from Dr. Jörn Schultheiß and Professor Eckhard Jedicke (Hochschule Geisenheim University), as well as from Dr. Bernd Carqué, who spoke on behalf of Dr. Job von Nell (von-Nell’sche Forstverwaltung).
Dr. Jörn Schultheiß introduced the main topic of the event with a short lecture, exploring concrete measures for water retention in forests and emphasizing the importance of stakeholder cooperation for the development and successful implementation of comprehensive water retention methods. In the subsequent workshop phase of the event, participants engaged intensively with the topics of soil management and Keyline design, forest development, and forestry techniques, as well as how collaborative approaches and stakeholder involvement can help ensure effective water retention.
In the second part of the workshop phase, specific questions regarding financing, planning, and monitoring the impact of water retention measures were discussed in detail. In the process, it became clear that there are no blanket solutions; instead, numerous, compartmentalized measures that are adapted to the location in question are needed. In addition, participants agreed that continued discussion between stakeholders, as well as the readiness to learn from one another and develop solutions together, will be essential moving forward.
The event’s evening program was also particularly engaging, with Dr. Bernd Carqué reporting on the historical development of charcoal burning and ore mining in the Soonwald and on the history of the Puricelli/von Nell family. This proved to be excellent preparation for the excursion on Friday, which started at a building called the Stromberger Neuhütte, a relic of the iron industry in the Hunsrück region. From there, participants headed out into the Soonwald forest to examine the water retention measures that have been implemented to date. The participants discussed challenges and solutions for optimizing individual measures as well as changes that need to be made in the field of forest development. The day ended with a relaxed gathering in the storage building of the Stromberger Neuhütte, where participants continued to network and discuss their takeaways from the event.
