Baden-Württemberg: Conservationists want a law against land use

By the year 2035, no additional areas should be used for settlement and transport purposes in Baden-Württemberg.

Baden-Württemberg: Conservationists want a law against land use

By the year 2035, no additional areas should be used for settlement and transport purposes in Baden-Württemberg. The country has set itself the goal. Far from it, warn the nature conservation associations. It will be even worse than before.

Radolfzell (dpa/lsw) - From the point of view of nature conservationists, Baden-Württemberg will clearly fail with the goal of a net zero in land use if politicians do not change course immediately. The state government does not want any additional land to be used for settlement and transport purposes from 2035 onwards. "But so far, apart from one discussion event, no serious steps by the state government can be seen to achieve net zero by 2035," criticized the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) and the Bund for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) on Thursday at the start of the 46th .Nature conservation days in Radolfzell. On the contrary: Baden-Württemberg will be sealed more tightly than before.

The two associations declared 2023 the "Year of Land Consumption" and called for the target for land consumption to be legally defined in the State Planning Act. According to the State Statistical Office, daily land use in 2021 was 6.2 hectares per day, still above the state political target of less than 3 hectares per day - eight percentage points more than in the previous year.

The protection of the meadow orchards is also inadequate, it said. "But the approval of clearing by the district offices is the rule and not the legally desired exception," criticized NABU state chairman Johannes Enssle. In the period from March 2021 to February 2022 alone, 54 applications for clearing a total area of ​​more than 30 hectares were made, of which only two were rejected. "Most of the time, roads are built that cause new traffic, as well as commercial areas and single-family homes," said BUND state chairwoman Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch (BUND). "For many municipalities it seems to be easier to plan on the green field than to intensify in the interior of the settlements."

The state government and administration must slow down the sealing and protect areas such as meadow orchards, the associations are demanding. 527,954 hectares or 14.8 percent of the country are now covered with houses, parking lots or roads. In 2000 it was 13.2 percent. "Since 1970, the population in Baden-Württemberg has increased by 24 percent, but the settlement area by 100 percent," criticized Enssle. "Two generations have consumed as much new settlement area as 80 generations before them since the beginning of our era." Among other things, meadow orchards are important for biodiversity and climate protection.

People have been meeting at Lake Constance for nature conservation days since the 1970s. This year they last until next Sunday (January 8th).