Even though the so-called “Spreehafenviertel” district has not been approved yet, the clearing of 800m² of the Wild Forest has been requested. 

The forest area belongs to the city of Hamburg. The civil engineering company BM-Bau, located on Schlenzigstraße at the edge of the forest, leases its premises from Carl Max Holding GmbH & Co. KG. In May 2024, the two parties reached the following agreement: The city needs a corner of the current premises for the construction of new sports fields as part of the so-called “Spreehafenviertel”. In return, BM-Bau will receive a significantly larger area of land that is currently covered by forest and belongs to the city. This land swap is already included in the plans for the Spreehafenviertel district.

BM-Bau would like to proceed with the clearing, filling and paving of this area now rather than waiting for the implementation of the so-called Spreehafenviertel, they claim this is needed since their company has grown significantly and they do not have sufficient storage space. On 26 May 2025, the “Hamburgische Landesbetrieb Immobilienmanagement und Grundvermögen” submitted a building application that includes the application for clearing the affected forest area (file number M-BP-525-2025 0042). As the Wilhelmsburg 102 ‘Spreehafenviertel’ development plan has not yet been finalised, the current building and clearing application refers to the 1968 development plan, which is still valid today, according to which the area is to be used for industrial purposes. The forest only came into being on the wasteland after the storm surge of 1962.

Any clearing of the Wild Forest must be prevented, no matter how small the area! There are enough industrial areas, including vacant ones. We need natural areas in the city for the local climate and as places to live and relax. The WiWa is a forest, not a construction site!

The building application must be approved by the Mitte district office. Because the clearing of the forest must be compensated for in accordance with the State Forest Act, the BUKEA (Authority for Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture) must give its approval. In addition, environmental associations must be asked for their opinion. The Nature Conservation Working Group (“Naturschutz AG”), in which Hamburg’s nature conservation associations join forces to issue such statements, has fundamentally rejected the clearing of the 800 m² of wild forest.

Nevertheless, BUKEA informed us that they will approve the building application for 800 m² of the Wild Forest and thus legalise the clearing. Because the legally required compensation areas are to be created, they claim they had no other choice. The compensation areas are to be created somewhere in Schleswig-Holstein. But the principle of compensation areas is fundamentally a big scam.

When will the clearing take place? As soon as the building permit has been issued the clearing can happen anytime between October and February.

What will be cleared? 800m² at the Schlenzigstraße.

Update January 2026: So far we have not heard that the permit has been issued. The Mitte district office claims that neither they nor the BUKEA have issued the permit so far. But never trust the district office!