Fewer than one in three felled avenue trees replanted

Brandenburg is the state with the most avenue trees in Germany. However, their number is decreasing from year to year. Many trees are victims of climate change, others have to make way for widened roadways.

, and Ksenia Johnson

2023 December 19 . 6:03 AM

2 min read

Rapeseed plants bloom bright yellow in a field next to an avenue in the Oder-Spree district. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Traffic - Fewer than one in three felled avenue trees replanted

Less than a third of the avenue trees felled on Brandenburg's state roads in recent years have been replanted. From 2018 to 2022, just under 13,300 trees were felled, according to the Ministry of Transport in Potsdam in response to a question from Green Party member of state parliament Isabell Hiekel. In contrast, only around 3,700 avenue trees were planted in the same period.

At the end of October this year, the ministry cited stricter safety regulations and the changed climate conditions, which led to drought and damage, as reasons for the tree felling. Many trees had also reached an advanced age. Sufficient new planting on the avenues had also failed due to a lack of space. The growth of new trees has been hindered by late frosts, sunburn, poor seed quality, salt ingress and vandalism.

Green member of state parliament calls for protection for avenues

Hiekel, a member of the Green Party in the state parliament, demanded: "It is high time that we protect our avenues better and replant at least as many avenue trees as are felled." She expects that the protection of avenues can be improved, especially on roads with low traffic volumes.

She proposes reducing the speed and the minimum distance between the edge of the road and avenue trees from the current 4.50 meters to 3.50 meters on low-traffic state roads and dispensing with crash barriers. According to the MPs, more trees could then be planted on such roads, as the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is already doing.

The ministry is partly critical of this. Guard rails on state roads could be dispensed with if a speed limit of 70 km/h applies. However, this would require changes to the road traffic regulations and the corresponding administrative regulations at federal level. However, the ministry sees no room for manoeuvre when it comes to the minimum distance of 4.50 meters between trees and the edge of the road.

According to the information provided, the transport ministers of the federal states are currently discussing whether the directive for vehicle restraint systems, which also contains the provisions on the minimum distance of avenue trees from the road, should be revised.