Great excitement about new forest law: What does the draft bill mean and what's next?

It has been clear since 2015 that the current German Forest Act from 1975 needs to be revised. In particular, current hot topics such as biodiversity and climate change make it urgently necessary to adapt the law accordingly. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL for short) had originally announced the first official draft of the amendment for the end of October 2023. However, as the 50 comments submitted by the federal states and associations are still being analysed, the publication date of the official draft bill has been postponed. The DIMB has also submitted a statement. These include the "key points paper" of the WaSEG, which was successfully developed and celebrated a few years ago:

WaSEG recommendation for outdoor sports in the forest

The Federal Platform Forest - Sport, Recreation, Health (WaSEG), which is made up of the leading German organisations from the forestry, forest ownership, hunting, hiking and sport sectors, has agreed on aKey issues paper agreed. Cycling in forests and meadows is to be treated equally. Cycling is permitted on all suitable paths. In principle, paths in good condition are suitable. The federal states, cities and municipalities have also agreed to this recommendation.

The objective of the DIMB: to enforce a nationwide standardised right of access and to accept closures where there are justified reasons (e.g. nature conservation, danger spots). Antiquated special routes such as the two-metre regulation in Baden-Württemberg should thus be finally overturned.

But now Forstpraxis (an online portal of various magazines for foresters and forest owners) has suddenly published this draft bill. A version which, according to the head of the department, was expressly not authorised by the Ministry of Agriculture and whose content does not correspond to the official draft, which is currently still being worked on.

What exactly is a draft bill?

In order to find this out, we have rummaged through the pages of the Federal Government: A draft bill is the very first stage in the legislative process. Officers from the responsible ministry compile the concerns of those involved and summarise them in a draft (possibly the version that has now been leaked). The content of this draft is revised several times before it is reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior for its legal formality with regard to applicable law, possible neighbouring laws and the Basic Law. The draft bill will then be voted on by the Federal Cabinet (Federal Chancellor and Federal Ministers).

If the draft bill is approved by a majority, it will become a formal draft law. And this is the first draft that is normally published and released for discussion. The content is then discussed in plenary, in specialised committees and expert panels. This usually results in a major revision before the draft bill is finally passed on to parliament for a vote and - if necessary with the approval of the Bundesrat - adopted as law.

So is all the excitement premature?

Yes and no. Basically, of course, we'll have to wait and see what's in the ministry's real, official draft bill, which isn't due until January 2024 (actually spring 2024, although the nature conservation organisations are calling for more speed). However, the DIMB is already concerned: Some formulations in the "leaked" draft bill have recently made it into the legal code of a state government in one form or another - namely in Bavaria. The Bavarian Forest Act has been expanded to include an administrative regulation that now allows landowners to impose a driving ban on roads at their own discretion. For example, if they consider the paths to be too steep or too narrow for mountain bikers.

There is already speculation on some social media channels as to whether this draft bill may have been influenced by forest owners and foresters. However, this theory can probably be ruled out, as the AGDW, the working group of forest owners, is at least as outraged by this first draft bill:
The working group of forest owners rejects the draft "in its entirety", according to the online platform Forstpraxis.de. According to AGDW President Prof Andreas Bitter The draft between the Federal Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment and could only serve as an initial basis for discussion due to the many technical shortcomings. Otherwise, people would not shy away from large protest actions.
In fact, a large part of the new Forest Act is aimed at forestry (sustainable management, biodiversity, avoidance of damage caused by forestry machinery, logging roads!) and as 48 per cent of German forests are privately owned, this interest group should carry corresponding weight in the discussions.

The only passages that go down well with the forest owners in the leaked document are the paragraphs that concern us mountain bikers. Namely:

• Cycling should be restricted to "suitable routes"The DIMB fears that, in the worst case, the individual federal states could even introduce the Austrian model with this wording. This would mean that cycling would only be permitted on signposted paths. Landowners would then no longer have to provide comprehensible justifications for path closures such as nature conservation, high user numbers or danger spots.
• Roads for forestry operations may not be used: Although this already applies to the logging roads carved into the forest floor by heavy machinery, in future it could also extend to trails that lead to a hunter's stand, for example.
• The "Komoot paragraph": According to a leaked draft bill, the digital distribution of tour tracks off public roads will only be permitted in future with the landowner's authorisation.

The completely unrealistic last point alone, which is probably difficult to implement, shows how much room for discussion and clarification there actually still is in this preliminary draft.

And what happens now?

The publication of the first formal draft has been announced by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for January 2024. In order to broaden their position, the DIMB's expert advisors are already exchanging ideas with other interest groups who fear similar restrictions to us mountain bikers (e.g. with the German associations for hikers, horse riders and tourism) on the subject of forest access law. Together with lawyers, a strategy for further action is now being developed - in case some of the feared formulations should actually appear in the official draft.

If you would like to support the DIMB in this important lobbying work: the bigger an association, the more powerful its voice. Basic membership costs 28 euros per year and makes an excellent Christmas present for an enthusiastic trail biker!