The black Forest is located in Baden-Württemberg, which is located in Southwest Germany. It occupies 12,000 km^2 of Germany, and is 200 km long and 60 km wide, and borders France, Switzerland, and the Neckar River. Historically the ecosystem was only filled with Pine Trees that created dark scenery of trees along with the mountains that cast shadows throughout the forest. There are heavily wooded mountains and verdant valleys. Since there was so much darkness the forest was given the name, The Black Forest. Several small villages/settlements, many of which are over 300 years old, dot the land but largely left the land untouched and untapped. Many species of animals litter the land such as wildcats, the Western Capercaillie (Tetrau Urogallus), brown bears, foxes, wild pigs, bucks, deer, rabbit, various eagles, Kolkrabe (raven = Corvas Corax), Dreizehenspecht (woodpecker-like = Picoides Dorsalis), and the Sperlingskauz (owl = Glaucidium Passerinum). Unfortunately, sections of this land have been wiped out to make room for additional villages, wineries and small business. The remaining forest is still largely pristine in appearance.

 

The Black Forest is used for various reasons. One of the famous benefits from the forest is its wood. It is famously used for the Cuckoo Clocks that are known worldwide. Wood is also used for the houses in and out of the forest, and for timber companies. However, the forest is not only kept as a famous natural scenery of it’s thick woodlands and deep valleys. It is also a location in which people enjoy thermal baths, casinos, wineries, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, boating and ice-skating. While visitors enjoy these activities, villagers within the forest also enjoy it. The forest contain many traditional Germanic villages, filled with lively communities of people, and fairy tale villages that have famous architectural buildings that reflect past kingdoms and civilizations.

However, although it has been beneficial for people for various reasons, the human impact has caused great damage to the forest. Until the middle of the 19th century, agriculture in the Black Forest was of a subsistence type. Land was either passed down as a whole to the following generations or split into small sections for various family members to have their own agricultural land. Since it was constantly passed down, villages were developing and expanding within the forest. For many years the land has been supporting villages and these villages have caused erosion of the soil and removal of both plant and animal diversity. Slash and burn cultivation was also occurring throughout the Black Forest. From leveled out land to steep slopes slash and burn was a regular practice that resulted in the depletion of nutrients and exhausted soils. Agriculture also depended on the inhabitant’s cattle, and many of the cattle depended on year round pasteurizing which caused further damage to the soil and its nutrients. However, not only has vegetation destroyed the forest, timber has been a big issue also. Timber became an important resource for houses, companies, and the famous cuckoo clocks; local timber from the surrounding area was a very viable resource. Trees were taken out from the forest unsustainably. People were clearing portions of diverse lands and replacing them with monoculture lands, or leaving them clear of trees due to mass logging. With relation to the villages and timber, many roads were built in order to get around to various areas throughout the forest. By the end of the 18th century, the forest had lost 70% of its total area and nearly 98% of it indicator species like their native brown bear, black forest foxes (a breed of horse), and wildcats which relied heavily on the untapped and expansive land, which has been largely depleted.

Fortunately there was a turning point for the destruction of the forest. Reforestation programs commenced at the beginning of the 19th century. One of these programs is the, Black Forest Union. This union takes charge in regulating the timber consumption by outsiders. The union took into consideration the importance of preserving the environment and as a solution they established the rule that every tree cut down must be replanted. There has also been a new introduction to sustainable agricultural tactics by programs. The new agricultural tactics were housing of livestock, the production of winter food for animals, new crops that were grown on the previous lands, and crops that could be intercropped in order to have more food without expanding the agricultural land. Species that were on the brink of natural extinction are returning and prospering.

While programs have been working to sustain the Black Forest from human impacts, there have been natural disasters they are trying to control. Due to the pollution, an increase in gases, and other contaminants released into the air since the Industrial Revolution, acid rain has been developed in the area, destroying the forest.

The future of this ecosystem relies on the Unions. Organizations, such as the Landcare Association Central Black Forest (LACBF), are committed to promote a sustainable development and the conservation of the cultural landscape to maintain benefits both for people and nature in the Black Forest. People are constantly trying to protect the entire Forest from human activity that could damage the forest, but it has been very difficult to protect it from everything it faces. In 1999 the Loathar Storm destroyed hundreds of mountaintops by wiping out all of the Pine Trees and leaving the tops occupied only by shrubs and young fir trees. Currently, the Black Forest has been suffering from serious damage caused by acid rain that has been destroying many Pine trees and vegetation. Overall, the human activity is being controlled well by the Black Forest Unions, but the natural disasters and indirect impact by humans are causing many more issues for the protection of the forest that the German Republic cannot necessarily protect it from.

This ecosystem’s protection has been largely enforced because of the income it brings to Germany. Tourists all around the world go to Germany to explore the Black Forest. It contains various activities, architectures, and scenery. People enjoy exploring the forest where many fairy tale stories from the world renowned Brothers Grimm such as Hansel and Gretel came from. The future of this forest seems to relate to part of the economic future of Germany; it seems to serve a pivotal role in the very understanding of the country. This role is so important that it has persuaded Unions to keep the forest as it was naturally found, filled with rich diversity that expands to great lengths of South West Germany and with control of the expansion of villages, and businesses within the forest. Overall we believe that the protection enforced will allow the forest to reclaim lands which were once destroyed of it natural flora and fauna giving the forest a chance to grow and allowing species that had nearly gone extinct to reclaim lands that their ancestors once roamed and grew in.



In order to maintain balance between the people and the ecosystem the unions must set up more regulations on the amount of people using the forest, and the communities who live inside of it, and surround it. The Black Forest is not completely a forest, many businesses, and people have settled inside of the forest. In order to not allow a complete extermination, there has to be a control on how people control and manage their direct and indirect wastes. The people who cultivate must be taught how to grow enough food throughout the year and is sustainable by the forest and will not cause erosion and extinction of the diversity of animals and plants that are part of the ecosystem.  There must also be a guideline on how much contamination may be emitted by cities, villages, and companies in order to stop the strong acid rain that is destroying the ecosystems organisms. The more contamination that is released by human beings the stronger the concentration of acidic ph in the rain. While the unions concentrate on how to regulate the people’s activities that affect the ecosystem, there must also be a limit on how far villages, and businesses may expand through the forest. As long as boundaries are set up then there will be a larger part of the forest that will be completely filled by the natural ecosystem’s diversity that will be uninterrupted by humans.

The Black Forest, located in South Western Germany, is of great economical and ecological importance to Germany but also to the world. As a main source of timber and fertile soil, the land was nearly completely wiped out due to human encroachment. As a child, we were both always so easily entertained by the myths of the black forest and a couple of our favorite childhood fables were those of Hansel and Gretel and Snow White, along with numerous other mythological stories. These legends of old would not exist without this ecosystem and much of our childhood would be gone. Both of us enjoy traveling and hiking and what better place to do both than the Black Forest. Stefania yearns to one day be able to visit and help reclaim this area. Cody once lived near the Black Forest, has hiked throughout the ecosystem, lived and experienced the culture surrounding, and can trace his family roots to this Bavarian region, that makes him feel a deeper connection to it's traditions and culture. The Black Forest is enshrined in so much myth and is filled with such ecological, as well as cultural value, that we both instantly became enticed by the opportunity to learn more, yet we were devastated by how much of this land has been destroyed.