Hans-Jürgen von Maydell

Hans-Jürgen Baron von Maydell (born June 24, 1932 in Tallinn , Estonia , † July 11, 2010 in Wentorf near Hamburg ) was a German forest scientist . He was director and professor at the Institute for World Forestry at the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management (BFH) in Hamburg and professor at the University of Hamburg . The internationally renowned scientist was heavily involved in development aid and is one of the founding members of the agroforestry discipline .

Live and act

Born in Tallinn in 1932 , Hans-Jürgen von Maydell came to northern Germany during the turmoil of World War II and the post-war period, where he graduated from high school in Wyk auf Föhr in 1952 . He then studied forest science in Freiburg im Breisgau until 1957 . There Kurt Mantel brought him to the Institute for Forestry and Timber Market Policy before completing his studies in 1956. 1958 Maydell was there with the dissertation The economic importance of the combustion Derb wood and wood burning rice in the Federal Republic to Dr. rer. nat. received his doctorate and remained at the institute as a research assistant until 1961. In order to secure his livelihood, he also worked as a commercial clerk at the Hamburg and Berlin-based timber importer R. Anders KG.

Increased contact with the ideas of Franz Heske , Baron Maydell concentrated on questions of world forestry from the early 1960s. On behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) , he went with his family to Ghana for a year in April 1961 and worked on a series of wood market studies , for which he traveled to the African continent. Lastingly shaped by his impressions of the poverty experienced in the rural areas of Tanzania , Kenya and Sudan , Hans-Jürgen von Maydell returned to Hamburg and became a research assistant at the Institute for World Forestry at the BFH in Reinbek near Hamburg.

Even before his habilitation in the field of world forestry in 1969, Maydell had numerous teaching commitments at the University of Hamburg , including in the subjects of forest and timber geography, forest policy and timber trade. He also supervised many diploma and doctoral theses and was appointed head of the forestry and timber industry geography department at the BFH Institute for World Forestry.

Not least because of his family roots in the Baltic States , Maydell's scientific work at the BFH Institute for World Forestry focused from the start on the forestry and timber industry in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union . The first major studies on this were made in the mid-1960s and resulted in the comprehensive account of the forest and timber industry of the Soviet Union , which appeared in four volumes between 1973 and 1983 and which Maydell expanded in 1994 to include a supplement on the Commonwealth of Independent States . After the Baltic states regained their independence, he also unselfishly campaigned for the improvement of forest science education in Estonia. This commitment was recognized in 1993 by the award of an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Tartu .

Baron Maydell developed his findings primarily from practical experience. From 1962 to 1973 he explored tropical rainforest areas on his travels to the Central African Republic , the Ivory Coast , Gabon , Suriname and Ecuador . In later years he also toured Costa Rica , Indonesia , Siberia and the Fiji Islands , among others .

From the experiences of his travels resulted also the most important scientific achievement of Maydells that agroforestry co-founded as a scientific discipline and have built up. Possibilities of such sustainable forms of cultivation from combined land, pasture and forest use had been known for a long time, but despite initial approaches to researching them, such as with the "forest classic" Heinrich Cotta in the first half of the 19th century, scientifically insufficient until then been treated. Maydell recognized the potential that agroforestry forms of economy have for securing the food supply of the rural population and did everything in his power to promote this as a promising strategy for development aid in the fight against poverty. The main impetus was his trip to the Sahel zone on behalf of the UN in 1973 , the countries of which Chad , Niger , Senegal and Upper Volta were affected by a major drought at the time. The misery, the collapse of traditional structures and cultural values as well as the great destruction of the environment made von Maydell believe that development aid would have to be oriented differently in the future.

He was committed to this on a national and international level. Together with the Canada- funded International Development and Research Center (IDRC), he played a key role in the transfer of part of this facility into the International Center for Research in Agro-Forestry (ICRAF), which is now one of 16 international centers in the field of agricultural research is. Together with colleagues from all over the world, Maydell determined the scope of duties of the ICRAF, was a member of the board and from 1977 to 1983 chairman of the program committee. He succeeded in getting the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation to support the work of the center financially and also by sending experts in personnel. Together with the Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Maydell initiated projects for reforestation in the Sahel countries between 1977 and 1987 and carried out field research himself in Gambia , Upper Volta and Senegal. This resulted in numerous insights into the sustainable use of the natural resources of the Sahel zone, such as determining the load-bearing capacity of thorn bush savannahs and the highest possible number of cattle with different levels of herbaceous layers .

Maydell was also for many years a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Development Ministry and the Working Group on Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research (ATSAF) of the Senate of the Federal Research Centers . In 1989 he was appointed to the ATSAF board. After his retirement in 1994, the internationally renowned scientists six years operated long on the Supervisory Board of the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in the Indian Hyderabad as head of the program committee and at times as chairman.

Maydell has written more than 200 publications and expert opinions. Most of his longer treatises in book form appeared in the series of publications of the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management . He was also the chairman of the editorial team for the international journal Agroforestry Systems .

Hans-Jürgen von Maydell died on July 11, 2010 in his long-term home in Wentorf near Hamburg .

Awards

1993 - Honorary doctorate (Doktor honoris causa) from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tartu , Estonia

Fonts (selection)

The economic importance of firewood and firewood in the Federal Republic , communication from the Forest Policy Institute of the University of Freiburg im Breisgau, dissertation, Stuttgart 1958

The forest ownership of the Soviet Union in statistics , reports from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Timber Management, Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 57); Reinbek near Hamburg 1964

together with Gert Buchholz: Reforestation in the arid areas of the Soviet Union. Report on Russian experiences since 1841 , reports from the Federal Research Institute for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 59), Reinbek near Hamburg 1965

together with Harald Erichsen: Occurrence and use of economically important palm trees , reports from the Federal Research Institute for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 69), Reinbek near Hamburg 1968

together with Rüdiger Albin, Heinrich Ollmann: Status and development tendencies of the wood industry in Thailand , reports from the Federal Research Institute for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 72), Reinbek near Hamburg 1969

together with Karl Berberich: Requirements and development opportunities for the timber industry in Guiana , Suriname and French Guiana , notifications from the Federal Research Institute for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 78), Reinbek near Hamburg 1970

Secondary forest uses in the Atlas countries as a basis for regional development. Shown using the example of cork oak forests , alfa grass areas and argan stands , reports from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 86), Reinbek near Hamburg 1971

As editor: Forest policies for stimulating investment in developing countries , 2 volumes, communications from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Reinbek near Hamburg (No. 112 and 117), Reinbek near Hamburg 1976–1977

Forestry and timber industry in the Soviet Union , 4 volumes, Hamburg, 1973–1983

as co-author: Agroforestry land use in the catchment area of central places in the Sahel. Case study North Senegal , research reports by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (Volume 47), Munich, Cologne, and London 1983, ISBN 3-8039-0276-2

Arbres et arbustes du Sahel. L: leurs caractéristiques et leurs utilisations , GTZ series of publications (No. 147), Eschborn 1983, ISBN 3-88085-195-6

as editor: Land use in the humid tropics. Update and orientation of research activities in the Federal Republic of Germany. Report of the conference from May 23 to 25, 1990 in the Central Office for Food and Agriculture (ZEL) of the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) in Feldafing, Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research Working Group (ATSAF) eV Head: H.-J. von Maydell , Feldafing 1990

As editor: Contributions to world forestry , communications from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Hamburg (No. 169), Hamburg 1991

as editor: 60 years of research in the service of world forestry , communications from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Hamburg (No. 170), Hamburg 1992

Agroforestry. Lexicon and glossary. German-English = Agroforestry , communications from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Hamburg (No. 173), Hamburg 1993

Forestry and timber industry of the Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS (formerly Soviet Union). Part 5: The Russian Federation , notifications from the Federal Research Center for Forestry and Wood Management Hamburg (No. 179), Hamburg 1994

literature

KF Panzer: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen von Maydell 60 years old , in: AFZ. General Forest Journal for Forest Management and Environmental Protection, Volume 47, Issue 21/1992, pp. 1156–1157, ISSN 0002-5860

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.aai.ee/abks/008.html

personal data
SURNAME	Maydell, Hans-Jürgen von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Maydell, Hans-Jürgen Baron von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German forest scientist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 24, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tallinn , Estonia
DATE OF DEATH	July 11, 2010
Place of death	Wentorf near Hamburg

[1] ttp://www.aai.ee/abks/008.html