On 30 October, Atze Schröder planted the first of ten thousand trees that he promised to his fans during a live show at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg. The comedian is setting an example for environmental protection and sustainability in the Hamburg metropolitan region.
During his show at Hamburg’s Barclays Arena on 14 February 2020, Atze Schröder announced that he would donate a tree for each of the 10,000 spectators. Today, the first trees have been planted in a forest area managed by the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation in Neversdorf, in the district of Segeberg. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region helped identify a suitable area for the trees.
With this campaign, Atze Schröder supports the FAME FOREST initiative, which plants a tree for every artist who performs at the Barclays Arena. Over the past few months, nearly 100 trees have been planted in Hamburg, creating a small forest.
The ecological-social project FAME FOREST is based on an idea by Jan Schierhorn, founder of the charitable initiative ‘Das Geld hängt an den Bäumen,’ in collaboration with the Barclays Arena, part of Anschutz Entertainment Group, and Barclays.
The first trees of ‘Atze’s Wald’ were planted today, coinciding with the first anniversary of the FAME FOREST. Around 120 invited guests from politics, business, art, and culture attended the opening of the FAME FOREST a year ago in Hamburg Schnelsen. Environment Senator Jens Kerstan, rapper Smudo, pop star Sasha, and members of the best-age band Söhne Hamburg planted the initial trees in the FAME FOREST, ensuring a brilliant start with extensive media coverage.
Now, one year later, a separate ‘Atze Forest’ is being established in the ‘New Primeval Forest Neversdorf’ on approximately 4.5 hectares of previously intensively utilized grassland. The nature conservation foundation’s natural forests are dedicated exclusively to protecting biotopes, species, and the climate and are not used for forestry.
Thanks to Atze Schröder, Germany’s least wooded state is gaining a new habitat for particularly endangered species. This area is especially valuable as evidence of the dormouse, which is on the Red List of Threatened Species, has been found to the south and north. The Nature Conservation Foundation hopes that this area will act as a stepping stone biotope, linking the two populations. Such biotope connections allow animals and plants to migrate in response to climate change.
The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has invested more than one million euros in this biotope infrastructure as part of a large-scale biotope network project, in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Foundation and many other partners. The project connects and strengthens ecologically valuable open spaces and emphasizes cross-border action.
