Rems and Winterbach · River, water, nature and history

Forest or meadow?

Forest is good for the climate, for groundwater and for recreation. Even so, not every new forest is a gain. On the Hungerberg above Winterbach, forest, forest edges, orchard meadows, lean meadows, wooded ravines with small streams and old vineyard terraces alternate within a small area. It is precisely this mixture that makes the slopes so rich in life – and it exists only because people have tended it for centuries. People protect what they know and value: that is why we show here what this mosaic holds.

The mixture is what counts

Many animals need not one habitat but several side by side. The sand lizard basks on warm, open margins and hides in the shrubs. The fire salamander lives in moist deciduous forest and places its larvae in cool, clean spring streams such as those flowing in the ravines on the Hungerberg. The yellow-bellied toad spawns in small, shallow puddles that quickly dry out again. Bats hunt along forest edges and over meadows and roost in the hollows of old trees, including old fruit trees.

The most valuable part is often the transition: the forest edge, where the forest does not end abruptly but passes over shrubs and herbs into the meadow. Such an edge is warm, light and rich in flowers. At the Böhnlöchle one such transition has been protected as a natural monument since 1992: the "Steppenheide und Waldsaum am Böhnlöchle" (steppe heath and forest edge).

Forest that always stays forest: the plenter principle

Within the forest itself the mixture matters too. In plenter (selection) forestry, whole areas are never harvested at once; only single trees or small groups are taken. So young, middle-aged and old trees stand side by side in a small space, and the forest is never bare. New trees grow by themselves from the seeds of the old ones (natural regeneration); hardly anything needs to be planted.

This has many advantages:

The soil stays protected. Because there are always trees standing, the forest floor dries out less, rain runs off more slowly, and on the slope hardly any soil is washed away.
The forest is more stable. A layered forest with trees of every age usually withstands storms, drought and beetle infestation better than an even-aged stand – if one tree fails, the next are already waiting.
Much habitat in a small space. Light and shade, young and old trees, hollows and deadwood offer a place to woodpeckers, bats, beetles and fungi.
There is timber again and again, not just once a century. Those who practise selection forestry can harvest a little regularly instead of everything at once.
The forest remains a place. Paths, views and the appearance of the forest are preserved; there are no clear-cuts.

Selection forestry demands experience: every tree has to be judged individually and felled carefully so that the young trees are not damaged, and machinery can only be used to a limited extent. The method is classic in the fir–spruce–beech forests of the Black Forest; with broadleaved trees such as beech it is more demanding, but possible. For small woodlands, of which there are many on the Hungerberg, the principle fits particularly well: you take only what regrows, and you deliberately leave old trees standing and deadwood lying.

Lean meadows: species-rich because they are poor

A lowland hay meadow is hardly fertilised and mown once or twice a year. Because the grasses do not become dominant there, many flowers have room – meadow sage, ox-eye daisy, field scabious, bellflowers – and with them wild bees, butterflies and grasshoppers. Such meadows are a habitat type protected across Europe (6510) and, since 2022, also legally protected habitats under the German Federal Nature Conservation Act.

The special thing: a lean meadow does not maintain itself. If it is no longer mown, it becomes matted, couch grass and bramble spread, then shrubs come and finally forest. The State Institute for the Environment notes exactly this for one surveyed meadow on the Hungerberg: the area "is mown too rarely". Anyone who mows a meadow, even by hand, is therefore not working against nature but preserving it.

Orchards and birds

Standard fruit trees on meadows shape the Rems valley. They are breeding and feeding places for many bird species. Parts of the slopes north of Winterbach therefore belong to the EU bird protection area "Streuobst- und Weinberggebiete zwischen Geradstetten, Rudersberg und Waldhausen" (orchard and vineyard areas), designated in 2010. In Baden-Württemberg, larger orchard stands have also been subject to a special conservation requirement since 2020.

Connect instead of afforest

Many animals move between their habitats: the fire salamander from the forest to the spring stream, the sand lizard along sunny margins. If forest and stream lie apart, they lack the way between them. Such a gap does not have to be closed with forest. A strip of hedge, a strip of rough grass that is mown only rarely, a pile of field stones or a shallow pond is often enough. This creates a habitat network, and the open meadow is preserved. In Baden-Württemberg the municipalities are to draw up habitat network plans for this purpose.

Traces of people

The open slopes are also a history book. Sunken lanes show where carts have driven for centuries; dry-stone walls and stone ridges show where vineyards were laid out and stones were cleared from the fields. Dry-stone walls and stone ridges have likewise been legally protected since 2022. What we found of this on the Hungerberg, we show on Traces in the Hungerberg; how the vineyards of 1832 became forest is in the section "From vineyard to forest" there, and what the slopes might carry in future we play through on Vineyards of tomorrow. Under forest such traces do not disappear, but they become invisible and are forgotten.

What afforestation changes

A new forest on a meadow brings shade for the neighbouring plots, a different microclimate and different species. For some plots this is a gain, for instance when a field beside a stream becomes alluvial forest. For a species-rich meadow or a sunny margin it can be a loss. That is why every afforestation in the open landscape in Baden-Württemberg is examined: it needs a permit from the lower agricultural authority at the district office (section 25 of the state's Agriculture and Land Management Act, LLG). The municipality and the nature conservation authority must agree, and the interests of neighbours and of nature conservation are weighed up.

The slopes between the Rems valley and the Buocher Höhe have been protected as a landscape protection area since 1968. The State Institute for the Environment describes the area as a "Keuper landscape with vineyards, orchard slopes, small stream valleys, meadows and forest" – so what is protected is precisely the mixture.

What everyone can do

mow meadows once or twice a year and remove the cuttings, instead of letting them scrub over
prune old fruit trees and plant new ones; leave dead trees standing as hollow trees where it is safe
leave margins and hedges at the forest edge and cut them back only in sections
preserve dry-stone walls and stone ridges, do not remove them
stay on the paths and keep dogs on a lead during the breeding and rearing season

Frequently asked questions

Isn't afforestation always good for the climate?

Forest binds carbon; that is an advantage. But open meadows and orchards have other values: many species that live only there, cool air that flows into the valleys at night (Cool air for Winterbach), views and cultural history. Which value outweighs the other at a given spot is weighed up in the permitting procedure.

Do I need a permit to afforest a meadow?

In Baden-Württemberg, yes: for land in the open landscape that is not yet forest, you need a permit from the lower agricultural authority (section 25 LLG). The contact is the agricultural office at the district office.

What is a lean meadow?

A meadow on nutrient-poor soil that is fertilised little or not at all and mown once or twice a year. Precisely because it is "poor", a particularly large number of plant species grow there.

Sources

LUBW, data and map service: natural monument "Steppenheide und Waldsaum am Böhnlöchle" (81190860032), landscape protection area 1.19.009, bird protection area 7123441, biotope and hay-meadow survey (accessed 1 October 2026). Basis: data from the UIS of the LUBW.
List of natural monuments in Winterbach (Wikipedia), designation date 13 November 1992
Plenter forest: Forestbook, "Plenterwald"; ETH Zurich, Chair of Forest Management and Silviculture, "Die Plenterung und ihre unterschiedlichen Formen" (lecture notes)
German Federal Nature Conservation Act, section 30 paragraph 2 no. 7 (legally protected habitats, inserted by the Insect Protection Act 2021, in force since 2022)
Agriculture and Land Management Act of Baden-Württemberg (LLG), section 25; Infodienst Ländlicher Raum (MLR BW): afforestation permit
Nature Conservation Act of Baden-Württemberg, section 22 (habitat network) and section 33a (conservation of orchard stands)

Last updated: 15 October 2026 · Initiative Remswelle