For a few months now, small wire baskets with QR codes have been standing on an inconspicuous meadow near the Czech border. They now contain plants that are about ten centimeters tall. A forest is to be created on half a hectare that will not just grow, but will be designed in such a way that it binds as much CO2 as possible.
However, the project “KultUrwald” is not run by a forestry company, but by the Upper Austria Cultural Platform (KUPF), in which more than 200 associations from the independent art and culture scene are organized.
Improve your own carbon footprint
KUPF wants to use the forest to reduce its own carbon footprint. “The climate crisis is also an issue in the cultural scene and we thought about how we could improve our own carbon footprint,” says managing director Thomas Diesenreiter in an interview with OÖN. That was three years ago. KUPF’s biggest CO2 driver is the KUPF newspaper, which is published four times a year. So the editorial team changed what they could – printing is now done on eco-paper and, where possible, delivered by bicycle couriers. But because that is not enough, the idea of using the forest as compensation was born. “But we didn’t want to simply transfer money so that a piece of forest could be protected or planted somewhere, we wanted to do it ourselves,” says Diesenreiter. The project is being supported by the Federal Research Center for Forests (BFW).
Crowdfunding campaign launched
In January, KUPF bought the land and planted the first seeds on 100 square meters. This first section is part of a research project by the Swiss Forest Research Society, which is testing new varieties there that are designed to be better able to withstand the changing climatic conditions. A local forest worker is taking care of the forest on a voluntary basis. In the autumn, the remaining area will be taken care of, and KUPF hopes to raise the 5,000 euros needed for this through crowdfunding. All donors will then be invited to plant the trees together at a planting festival in late autumn.
More information about the campaign at kupf.at or kulturwald.at
