Baumgartner's dream: free fruit trees for Igleinsberg!

Baumgartner's dream: free fruit trees for Igleinsberg!

The orchard pact of Bavaria is becoming increasingly popular because more and more people are discovering the idea of their own fruit garden. Since its introduction in 2021, the program has offered an inexpensive way to plant trees and thus harvest fresh fruit without having to invest large financial resources. The only requirement is a suitable property that should not only be attractive, but also practically located.

An example of the positive response of the pact is Matthias Baumgartner, who started planting fruit trees in Igleinsberg in the Bavarian Forest. "My joy is not in flowering flowers, but in the fruit trees," he says, telling of the unused meadow behind his house, where he has now planted 33 apple and pear trees. These trees come from the funding program and were almost free of charge for him. Baumgartner is particularly proud to harvest unspray fruit for his family.

The details of the funding program

Through the orchard pact, interested citizens across Bavaria can benefit from certain grants. The application is uncomplicated: various nature park associations and landscape maintenance associations support the application, so that citizens are not burdened with complicated forms. In counties such as Regen, Deggendorf and Freyung-Grafenau, for example, the Bavarian Forest Nature Park Association takes care of the necessary steps.

A crucial criterion is that the property is not declared as a building area and has a connection to the open landscape. This regulation ensures that the planted trees remain in the long term and are ecologically valuable by creating habitats for numerous insects and animals.

The funding mainly refers to high trunks, i.e. fruit trees that become several meters high in adulthood. In this way, the ecological function of the trees is strengthened. The planting should also take place as independently as possible in order to give people a feeling of responsibility and appreciation for the new trees.

But not only the planting is promoted. The cut of the trees is also supported to ensure that the fruit trees remain healthy and productive. The Nature Park Association also ensures that the first steps of planting, such as setting up stem protection and support ropes, are included. This allows the plants to grow safely and be looked after optimally later.

The successes of the program

The destination of the orchard pact is extremely ambitious: a total of one million new trees are to be planted by 2030. A considerable progress has already been made, because in the first two years alone almost 72,000 trees were brought into the ground. Especially in the second year of the program, the number of planted trees increased to over 63,000, which is a significant increase compared to the only 8,500 in the first year

Not only farmers, but also many private individuals are increasingly interested in the offers of the orchard pact. This shows that awareness of sustainable and regional cultivation grows steadily. In order to obtain more information about the concrete implementation of the funding, interested parties can contact their landscape maintenance association or the responsible district office, such as Gabriel Happernagl, forest engineer at the Bavarian Forest Nature Park Association.

The engagements, similar to that of Baumgartner, show that it is not only about the generation of income, but also about the joy of nature. The pursuit of healthy, unspray food and the creation of a natural habitat are motivations that motivate more and more people in Bavaria to become active and to shape their own orchard. Information on other aspects and details of the program is already accessible via various local information and can be obtained from both the website of the nature park association and via direct inquiries to the respective authorities.

Overall, the orchard pact of Bavaria enjoys a positive development and shows how smaller initiatives can also make great initiatives. With every tree planted, not only the landscape is enriched, but also the habitat and biodiversity is supported. So if you think about not only improving your own diet, but also doing something for the environment, you will find a promising option in the orchard pact.