A licence may be required to fell trees for various reasons.

A felling licence is particularly necessary in the following cases where trees are subject to special protection.

1. Protection of trees as "protected landscape features"

Cities or municipalities can protect trees as "protected landscape features" through tree protection ordinances or statutes. This is mainly used for built-up neighbourhoods.
Tree protection statutes may, for example, stipulate that certain trees (e.g. with a certain trunk circumference) may only be felled in exceptional cases.

In Baden-Württemberg, avenues are protected by law. They may therefore not be destroyed or significantly impaired.

2. Protection of trees as natural monuments

Trees can also be designated as natural monuments. Natural monuments may not be destroyed or altered.

3. Protection of trees for reasons of species conservation

a) As a rule, it is prohibited to cut down or uproot trees and other woody plants in the period from 1 March to 30 September.
Only careful shaping and maintenance pruning to remove the growth of plants or to maintain the health of trees is permitted during this period.
Exceptions to this may be granted, for example, to ensure road safety.

This prohibition does not apply

• to trees in forests,
• in short rotation plantations and
• on land used for horticultural purposes.

Land used for horticultural purposes includes in particular

• Areas used for commercial horticulture,
• private ornamental and kitchen gardens,
• Allotment gardens,
• Lawn sports facilities or
• public gardens (parks and green spaces including cemeteries).

b) Even if felling would be permitted under other regulations, special species protection must always be observed in addition.
Accordingly, it is prohibited to kill protected animals, damage their developmental forms (e.g. eggs in the nest), destroy their breeding sites (e.g. nests) or disturb the animals during the breeding season.
These regulations apply all year round without any time limit. For example, if there is an occupied bird's nest in a tree, felling during occupancy would not be permitted. If the nest is occupied on a recurring basis (as is the case with storks, for example), year-round protection applies.