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26. November 2025

We speak to Axel Jahn about moors

EnvironmentThe Loki Schmidt Foundation
Futurestories. A person with a rucksack walks next to calm water at sunrise or sunset. Trees and plants are reflected in the water. The sky is partly cloudy. A perfect image for a project or future map.
Axel Jahn knows lots about moors.
Axel Jahn tells us why moors are so important.
Do you want to know more?
Then keep reading.

Here we speak to Axel Jahn. 
Axel Jahn knows lots about moors.

Question
How does the Loki Schmidt Foundation protect moors?

Answer
Axel Jahn

We buy moor land. 
Or we pay money to use the land.
We make the moors natural again.

That means:

  • We make them very wet again.
  • We let animals like sheep eat grass there.
  • We pick up rubbish.

This way, the moors stay healthy.
This helps them be full of life.

Question 
How many moors have you protected?

Answer
Axel Jahn:

We have protected over 140 hectares of moor land.

That is about as big as 200 football fields.

The moors are in places like:

  • Hamburg
  • Lower Saxony
  • Schleswig-Holstein
  • Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
  • Brandenburg

But we need much more land for moors.
Then we can protect more nature. 
Then we can protect the climate. 
That means we can keep the earth cool. 

Adders are Germany’s only poisonous snake, and they like to live in healthy moors. <br>When there are adders in moors, it means the moors are healthy.<br>© Axel Jahn
This is an adder snake.
© Axel Jahn
A plant called a sundew grows high up on moors.<br>It has round leaves.<br>The plant has sticky areas on its leaves like tiny fingers.<br>For plants like the sundew it is hard to survive in places like moors.<br>The sticky areas on the leaves help the sundew to catch small insects to eat.<br>© Axel Jahn
Cotton grass likes to grow in moors.
© Axel Jahn

Question 
What animals and plants live in moors?

Answer
Axel Jahn:

Animals like:

  • The moor frog
  • The adder snake

And plants like:

  • The cranberry
  • Cotton grass

These plants and animals can only live in a few places.
They need moors to live. 

Here, someone is holding sundew.
Sundew is a plant that grows in moors.
But the sundew plant is hard to find now.
© Axel Jahn

Question 
How do you show more people that moors are important?

Answer
Axel Jahn:

We do lots of different things like:

  • Hikes through the moors
  • Activities for schools
  • Talks and events
  • We show people about moors on websites like Instagram.

We want more people to know about moors.

That way, more people will want to protect moors.

Question 
What is hard about protecting moors?

Answer
Axel Jahn:

It can be hard to protect moor land.

This is because:

  • The moor land belongs to other people.
  • These people have to say it is OK for us to work there. 
  • We have to help these people understand why it is important.
  • We need permission from the government. 
  • We also need information from experts.
  • Sometimes there are farms on the moor land.
  • These farms need to keep working.

Here is an example:
When we make a moor wet again,
we must keep other land next to it dry.

Question 
What needs to change to make protecting moors easier?

Answer
Axel Jahn:

We need better laws.

This is very important: 
More people need to know that
moors are so important. 

Do you want to keep learning about moors? 
Then look at the Moor Atlas.
Click here:
Moor Atlas

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