Green Berlin at a Glance

• The Tiergarten in the Mitte district is the oldest park in Berlin and has existed for almost 500 years. It measures 210 hectares, which is larger than the Hyde Park in London (141 hectares) - but smaller than the Central Park in New York (341 hectares) and the Tempelhof field (355 hectares).
• About half of the Tiergarten consists of meadows on which 616 ferns and flowering plants have been detected. Here hawk, buzzard and 24 nightingale pairs breed.
• Berlin consists of 23 parks larger than 50 hectares, and 80 parks between 10 and 50 hectares.
• In order to regulate the wildlife in Berlin, some animals are hunted by 40 state and 128 private hunters. The Berlin forests earn over 130,000 euros through game meat sales.
• Following the Second World War, the Tiergarten was almost completely cut down. Of the 200,000 trees, only 700 remained.
• The district of Pankow has Berlin’s largest share of public green areas with 1593 hectares. The centre of the city has at least 833 hectares.
• Berlin's green area is the habitat for 20,000 to 30,000 animal species. Including 17,000 species of insects alone.
• 3 white-tailed eagles have territories in waters near the outskirts, and there are 80 hawk breeding pairs throughout the city.
• The last bear in Brandenburg-Prussia was shot in 1741 between the villages Lübzin and Bergland northeast of Stettin.
• 437,964 trees grow on Berlin's streets. Citywide, there are at least a million.
• Each city tree supplies ten Berliners with 15 kilograms of oxygen.
• The most common street tree is the linden tree (35.4 percent). Followed by Maple (19.8 percent), Oak (8.8 percent), Sycamore (5.8 percent), Chestnut (4.9 percent), Robinia (2.9 percent).
• The most common trees in the Grunewald are pines with 56 percent. The oaks follow with 26 percent. Then the birches with 8 percent.
• The oldest tree in Berlin is the "Dicke Marie" in Tegel. The pedunculate oak is 26 meters high, has a circumference of 665 centimeters and is over 900 years old.
• Berlin has 12,926 hectares of urban public green spaces (14.5 percent). They consist of about 2,500 parks and recreation areas. The other consists of 73,075 allotments (2,991 hectares), 223 cemeteries (1,125 hectares) and sports facilities (921 hectares).
• There are 31 bat winter quarters in the city area. The Spandau Citadel alone houses 10,000 bats during the winter months. 17 different species were detected.
• Berlin receives three million euros a year through the timber industry. 150,000 cubic meters of wood grow each year. Of these, up to 120,000 cubic meters are recycled (pallets, chipboard, plywood, paper).
• The 3102.1 hectare Grunewald is Germany's largest urban forest.