--- title: "Autumn 2026 in the Solling: What's Happening at the Lower Saxony State Forests" date: "2026-10-21" author: "Leon" categories: ["Tree Planting Projects","Niedersächsische Landesforsten"] url: "https://blog.reviewforest.org/lower-saxony-state-forests-solling-autumn-2026" language: "en" --- Since March 2025, your reviews can also plant trees in Germany: with the Lower Saxony State Forests (Niedersächsische Landesforsten) in the Solling, near Nienover. The State Forests manage the forest that belongs to the state of Lower Saxony, and they report almost daily on what's happening in it. We've pulled together what's interesting for you. ![Great spotted woodpecker in a snowy forest. Photo: Niedersächsische Landesforsten](../../../assets/images/posts/partner-update-2026-10_nlf-solling.jpg) ## The planting season starts now In the State Forests, planting mostly happens between October and mid-April, in the cool, damp months. The season is just getting under way: on 3 October, for example, more than 100 families planted around 2,500 Douglas firs and beeches on 1.2 hectares in the Harz, together with the State Forests and the Zukunft Wald foundation ([Instagram, 6 Oct 2026](https://www.instagram.com/landesforsten/p/DeJ9aKwjScU/), in German). How much that adds up to is shown by the [2025 annual report](https://www.landesforsten.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/NLF_GB2025_DIN-A4_V08.pdf) (in German): in spring and autumn 2025, the State Forests planted around **5.47 million seedlings**. The main aim was to reforest the bare areas left by storms, drought and bark beetles. The planting is mixed. In the 2024/25 season, [one in four seedlings was a beech](https://www.landesforsten.de/blog/2025/03/19/jeder-vierte-setzling-ist-eine-buche/) (in German), along with native oaks, larches, silver firs, Douglas firs and sycamore maple, plus around 500,000 shrubs and secondary tree species for the forest edges. ## The bark beetle is in retreat Anyone who has driven through the Solling or the Harz in recent years has seen the bare slopes. Spruce suffered particularly from the dry summers and the storms from 2019 on, and the bark beetle had an easy time. Things look much better now. In May, NDR accompanied a [district forester in the Solling](https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/braunschweig_harz_goettingen/borkenkaefer-jungfoerster-kaempft-fuer-seinen-bestand-im-solling,foerster-128.html) (in German) and quoted figures from the Northwest German Forest Research Institute: in 2019 there were around 37,000 reports of bark beetle damage in Lower Saxony, in 2025 only around 4,000. The reasons are damper summers, fewer storms and the work of the foresters. That's why the forester relies on several tree species in his district, such as oak, silver fir and Douglas fir, so that a whole stand isn't lost all at once again and individual species can survive. ## In the Solling: wilderness, water and a study over ten years The State Forests' 1,000-hectare wilderness area is also in the Solling, where the forest has been largely left to itself since 2021. There's quite a lot going on there right now: - **A long-term study has begun.** Since September, the State Forests have been working with HAWK Göttingen to study how roe deer and red deer affect the regrowth of young trees. There are [40 pairs of plots](https://www.landesforsten.de/blog/2026/09/10/was-junge-baeume-ueber-den-wildeinfluss-verraten-monitoring-im-wildnisgebiet-solling/) (in German) for this: one fenced and one open plot side by side. The survey will be repeated in 2029, 2032 and 2035. - **A bog gets its water back.** In the Limker Bruch, the State Forests are removing spruce with a low-impact cable crane system so that the natural water balance can return. The work is due to run until February 2027 ([NDR, 22 September 2026](https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/braunschweig_harz_goettingen/moor-quell-und-waldbereiche-im-solling-werden-renaturiert,aktuellbraunschweig-3836.html), in German). The wilderness area is not where planting through ReviewForest takes place. But it shows well how the Solling is changing right now: away from pure spruce, towards mixed forest and more water in the landscape. ## What this means for your review forest Through ReviewForest, you fund plantings by the State Forests near Nienover in the Solling, and the district belongs to the Neuhaus forestry office. Planting happens in the autumn and spring planting season, not on the day a review comes in with you. There's no photo of every single tree, the State Forests document sites and seasons. You can find more about the project and the map on our [partner page for the Lower Saxony State Forests](https://reviewforest.org/planting-projects/niedersaechsische-landesforsten/).