Hans-Jürgen Otto

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Hans-Jürgen Otto (born August 25, 1935 in Schweidnitz ; † March 16, 2017 in Wedemark - Berkhof ) was a German forest scientist and forest clerk . As a long-standing silviculture consultant in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests , he was significantly involved in the conception of near-natural forestry for the state of Lower Saxony and was instrumental in preparing the government program for long-term ecological forest development (LÖWE) .

Live and act

Hans-Jürgen Otto studied forest sciences at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the Nancy-Université . He completed his studies with a degree in forestry. After his legal traineeship and a brief activity at the forestry institute in Göttingen, he worked in the French forest administration from 1964. After his return he joined the Lower Saxony State Forest Administration, where he initially worked as a site mapper. In 1972 he was awarded the dissertation The results of site mapping in the Pleistocene lowlands of Lower Saxony. PhD on the basis of silvicultural guiding principles at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen .

Otto was then in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry , most recently with the rank of Ministerialrat as a consultant for silviculture , forest management , forest protection and research. In 1994 he published an important textbook with the same title on his specialty, forest ecology . Hans-Jürgen Otto was significantly involved in the conception of near-natural forest management in Lower Saxony, which was reflected in the government program Long-term Ecological Forest Development (LÖWE) . It was a response to the discussion about the so-called forest dieback, called for by the coalition of the SPD and the Greens at the time, and it was decided on July 23, 1991. With this program for comprehensive forest conversion , Otto has decisively influenced silviculture in the northern German lowlands for decades.

In 1984 Hans-Jürgen Otto received the venia legendi from the University of Göttingen, which made him an extraordinary professor. After the fall of the Berlin Wall , he also took on teaching positions in 1992/93 and was a substitute professor at the forestry department of the TU Dresden in Tharandt . In 1996/97 he was visiting professor at the Nancy-Université . Hans-Jürgen Otto has also made an outstanding contribution to international forest cooperation, be it as the founder and head of the Franco-German Forest Colloquium or as a co-founder and from 1997 to 2001 President of the Pro Silva Europe association . He made numerous research trips to many parts of the world, including the United States and Malaysia .

Most of his larger writings appeared in Aus dem Walde , the series of publications of the Lower Saxony State Forest Administration, which he also oversaw as editor for many years . His work Waldökologie , published in 1994, was the first comprehensive book on forest ecology in German. In addition, he published numerous articles, mainly in forestry journals and was co-editor of the journal Forst und Holz .

He has received a number of awards for his internationally recognized forestry work, including the Wilhelm Leopold Pfeil Prize in 1996 and the Karl Gayer Medal in 1998 .

Hans-Jürgen Otto lived in the municipality of Wedemark in the north of the Hanover region . Seriously ill, he was in a coma from 2003 and has since been dependent on the constant care of his wife. He died in 2017 at the age of 82 in the village of Berhkhof in this municipality. He found his final resting place in the local cemetery.

Awards

Quote

“At the same time, the big city gives birth to psychological needs that we foresters are only slowly beginning to perceive to their extent. If we negate these ongoing changes in society and their psychological consequences, we as a profession will not survive the next century, no matter what silviculture we practice, no matter whether sustainable use is guaranteed and the protection of nature is improved. It is clear that this service must continue to be provided, so that wood production and nature conservation cannot recede to the same extent as the psychological needs of an increasingly urban population must be satisfied. "

- Hans-Jürgen Otto 1996 on the occasion of the award of the Pfeil Prize

Fonts (selection)

  • The results of the location mapping in the Pleistocene lowlands of Lower Saxony. Basis of silvicultural key concepts , dissertation, Göttingen 1972 (in book form: under this title as issue 19 of the series Aus dem Walde , Hanover 1972)
  • together with Walter Kremser : Basics for long-term, regional silvicultural planning in the Lower Saxony state forests , Aus dem Walde (Issue 20), Hanover 1973
  • Location claims of the most important forest tree species , Bonn 1982 (8th edition 2000, ISBN 3-8308-0116-5 )
  • Locational recordings and classifications in important areas of origin of the Douglas fir in western Washington and Oregon as well as in southwest British Columbia. Attempt to compare it with the growing conditions in north-west Germany , Aus dem Walde (booklet 38), Hanover 1984
  • as editor and co-author: Long-term, ecological silvicultural planning for the Lower Saxony state forests , 2, volumes, Hanover 1989 (Aus dem Walde, volume 42) and 1991 (Aus dem Walde, volume 43)
  • Forest ecology , Stuttgart 1994 ( ISBN 3-8252-8077-2 or ISBN 3-8001-2665-6 )

In addition, Otto was co-author of the book Ecological Forest Management - Basics, Aspects, Examples (Alternative Concepts 88, Heidelberg 1995, ISBN 3-7880-9870-8 ), which was largely conceived by Hermann Graf Hatzfeldt .

literature

  • J. Kleinschmit: Hans-Jürgen Otto 60 years in: Forst und Holz , 50th year, issue 16/1995. P. 508, ISSN  0932-9315
  • O. Dittmar: Pfeil Prize 1996. Ceremony on June 21, 1996 - for the third time in Eberswalde in: Forst und Holz , Volume 51, Issue 10/1996. Pp. 639-642, ISSN  0932-9315
  • Stephan Loboda: Pfeil Prize 1996 awarded , in: AFZ / DerWald . 51st year, issue 17/1996, pp. 969–970, ISSN  1430-2713
  • Hans-Jürgen Otto , in: Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 2003. 19th edition. Volume II: K - Scho. Bio-bibliographical directory of contemporary German-speaking scientists . KG Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-23607-7 , p. 2431

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obituary notice. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c Heinz-Werner Streletzki: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Otto passed away . Obituary on www.forstpraxis.de from April 10, 2017 ; accessed on November 18, 2017
  3. ↑ Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 2003. 19th edition. Volume II: K - Scho. KG Saur, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-598-23607-7 , p. 2431
  4. ↑ quoted from: Stephan Loboda: Pfeil Prize 1996 awarded , in: AFZ / DerWald . 51st year, issue 17/1996, p. 970.
personal data
SURNAME Otto, Hans-Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German forest scientist and forest officer
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Schweidnitz , Lower Silesia Province
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 2017
Place of death Wedemark - Berkhof , Germany