On 17 April, a mountain biker went on trial at Aichach District Court (Swabia). The reason: a forest owner demanded a cease-and-desist declaration from the biker because he had ridden his bike on a forest path in his private forest in December 2016, even though the owner had posted signs prohibiting it. The biker, who had been informed by the German Mountain Bike Initiative (DIMB) and relied on the Bavarian Nature Conservation Act from the Bavarian constitution, which allows anyone to use the forest for recreational purposes. It literally states that "cycling in the forest on suitable paths" is permitted.
Judge's judgement: "Nothing can be damaged."
The judgement of the trial: the biker was found to be in the right, the forest owner's claim was dismissed. The owner of the forest had argued that only paved forest roads were "suitable" for cycling. The judge justified the judgement - i.e. why the biker was allowed to use the path - by stating that there was no risk of damage to the forest floor. This was because it was not a gravelled, well-maintained forest path, but a so-called "machine path". Such paths are created during logging work and are wide, unpaved paths on which a forwarder transports the wood from the logging lane to the next forest path. The path had therefore been used by heavy vehicles shortly before. If the forest owner had won his injunction in court, the biker could have been fined several thousand euros in the event of a repeat offence. The forest owner still has the option of appealing.
The background
The action for injunctive relief only came about because the biker had driven into a nail trap placed there by an unknown person in December 2016 while riding along the machine path. He then filed a complaint. It was only then that the forest owner learnt that the mountain biker had ridden through his forest, even though he had forbidden it.
