I. General Terms
Version 3.0, 13/10/2026
§ 1 Purpose of the Online Platform
(1) The purpose of the online platform explorer.land and the affiliated websites (subsequently referred to as the platform) by OpenForests UG (with limited liability), subsequently referred to as the Agency, is presenting forest projects and accompanying services, if applicable, by third-party service providers.
(2) The Agency merely provides a platform to present forest projects and accompanying services, but does not itself provide such services.
(3) Primary Users of the platform are Clients, who are looking for forest projects and who want to use the platform to research a forest project.
(4) Other users of the platform are independent Providers of forest projects, which may be presented on the platform.
(5) Providers are registered with a user profile and may create and amend presentations about their organisation and their projects.
§ 2 Applicability
(1) These General Terms of Service are part of the contract, claiming exclusive applicability towards both consumers and business clients.
(2) Before registering, Users are expressly referred to these General Terms of Service and can access, read and save them via a link on the registration page. By clicking the registration button, the User accepts these General Terms of Service. The Agency stores the version accepted and the time of acceptance. The General Terms of Service then govern the use of the platform comprehensively.
§ 3 Presentation of Projects / Conclusion of Contract
(1) Providers may present their forest projects on the platform.
(2) To that purpose, Providers may create one or more presentations of their organisation and of their projects.
(3) In order to publish presentations about their organisation and their projects, a paid plan is required. The Agency will submit the respective offer to Providers by e-mail. If the Provider accepts that offer and makes the agreed payment, the presentations about the Provider’s organisation and projects will be made public. The contract starts with the acceptance of the Agency’s offer by the Provider or with the Provider’s first payment, whichever occurs first.
(4) Payment shall be made by the agreed payment method. If the Provider is more than 14 days in arrears with a due payment, the Agency may deactivate the Provider’s profiles based on non-performance of the contract and no longer display them for the duration of the default.
(5) The agency contract between Provider and Agency is concluded for the duration stated in the offer.
(6) It may be terminated by either party with one month’s notice before the end of the term. Both parties retain the right to terminate for cause.
§ 4 User Profile, Presentations about the Organisation and Projects
(1) Each Provider may set up one or more presentations about their organisation and their projects. By setting up such presentations, the Provider becomes the Owner of the respective presentation and is responsible for the contents of the published project and organisational presentation.
(2) Ownership of a project and organisational presentation may be transferred from the current Owner to a different registered Provider. With the transfer, the new Owner assumes the corresponding rights and obligations.
(3) Providers must enter true and complete information in their user profile and in their presentations about the organisation and projects. This information will be used to inform Clients. Providing false information may lead to breaches of the contract with the Client and may even constitute a criminal offence.
(4) Providers must keep their user profiles and their presentations about their organisation and their projects current. Providers may add new information to these presentations at any time.
(5) It lies within the free discretion of the Agency whether to accept the setting up of user profiles and organisational or project presentations. The Agency may delete user profiles and organisational or project presentations at any time without providing reasons. In that case, the user contract for the platform between the Provider and the Agency terminates.
§ 5 Collection of Contractual Data
(1) The Agency processes the data that Users provide when opening and using a user profile insofar as this is necessary to perform the user contract (Art. 6 para. 1 (b) GDPR).
(2) The Agency will only use Users’ data as far as required for providing the services. For that purpose, it may be necessary to pass on the Client’s data to the Provider or vice versa, if a contract has been concluded between them based on the presentations about the Provider’s organisation and projects.
§ 6 Liability
(1) The Agency is liable without limitation for intentional or grossly negligent acts, for culpable injury to life, limb or health, for violations of the Product Liability Act and in the case of a guaranteed feature, whatever the legal basis.
(2) The Agency is not liable for slightly negligent breaches of non-essential contractual obligations. In the case of a breach of essential contractual obligations, the Agency’s liability is limited to the typical losses foreseeable at the time the contract was concluded. Essential contractual obligations are obligations that protect legal positions of the User which are essential to the contract and which the contract has to guarantee to the User according to its content and purpose, as well as obligations whose performance is necessary for the proper performance of the contract and on which the User may usually rely.
(3) Any further liability of the Agency, whatever the legal basis, is excluded. This limitation of liability also extends to the Agency’s employees, vicarious agents and subcontractors. These rules do not reverse the burden of proof.
(4) The offers and content published by Users on the platform are not checked by the Agency for legality, correctness and completeness, nor do they represent the opinion of the Agency. The Agency is not responsible for third-party offers and content.
§ 7 Data Protection
(1) Contractual data (for example name, e-mail address, organisation, services used and any other data required to perform the contract) are processed in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 (b) GDPR insofar as they are required for the conclusion, performance or amendment of the contract.
(2) The Agency sends Users e-mails that are necessary to provide the platform, such as account confirmation, password resets, security notices and information about changes to these General Terms of Service. These e-mails do not require separate consent.
(3) The Agency only sends Users e-mails with information about new features, guides, events and offers if the User has given separate consent (Art. 6 para. 1 (a) GDPR). Giving this consent is voluntary and is not a condition for registering or using the platform. The Agency confirms the consent by e-mail before sending such information (double opt-in). The User can withdraw consent at any time, free of charge and with effect for the future, via the unsubscribe link in every e-mail, in the account settings or by sending an informal message to the Agency.
(4) Contractual data are only passed on to third parties insofar as this is necessary to perform the contract, the User has consented or another statutory permission applies.
(5) Further information on how the Agency processes personal data, including the recipients, storage periods, transfers to countries outside the EU and the rights of data subjects under Art. 15 to 21 and Art. 77 GDPR, is set out in the Data Privacy Policy for explorer.land.
§ 8 Rights to Content
(1) The Agency stores the multimedia content uploaded by the User, such as images, videos and text, on the User’s behalf or provides the necessary storage capacity and access to it. The User is responsible for the multimedia content posted or uploaded on the platform. If the User uses illegal content and the Agency is therefore held liable by third parties, the User must indemnify the Agency, upon first request, against all claims, including claims for damages and reimbursement of costs.
(2) The User must ensure that content they upload does not violate applicable laws and regulations, public decency or third-party rights, and must in particular respect name, personality, copyright, trademark and data protection rights. The User must not upload content that violates the German Criminal Code or the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media, nor content that is pornographic, glorifies violence or incites hatred against groups of people. The same applies to the use of e-mail and other electronic means of communication in connection with the platform.
(3) By posting multimedia content (text, images, videos, drawings, etc.) on the platform, the User grants the Agency a simple (non-exclusive), free of charge, revocable, unlimited, sub-licensable and geographically unlimited right to use the multimedia content posted on the platform. The Agency is not authorised to sublicense the content for payment.
(4) The Agency may link to content published on the platform and already publicly accessible in its social media channels, and may send project presentations and their content via the OpenForests newsletter lists.
(5) The content offered or shown on the Agency’s website is protected by copyright.
§ 9 Amendments to the General Terms of Service, Place of Performance, Jurisdiction, Applicable Law
(1) If serious reasons beyond the control of the parties lead to an unforeseeable change in the contractual contents governed by these General Terms of Service (in particular not the main contractual obligations), and if the Agency’s interest in amending them outweighs the typical interests of the contracting party, the Agency is entitled to amend these General Terms of Service, unless the law already provides for such a need for adjustment.
(2) The place of performance is the registered business address of the Agency.
(3) For all current and future claims arising from the business relationship with merchants, the courts at the Agency’s registered business address have exclusive jurisdiction. The same applies if the User has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, moves their residence or habitual abode out of Germany after the contract is concluded, or if their residence or habitual abode is unknown at the time the action is filed. The Agency may also sue the User at the User’s place of business or at any other competent court.
(4) All contractual relations between the parties are governed exclusively by German law.
(5) The contractual language is German. This English version is provided for information. In the event of any discrepancy, the German version prevails.