Environmental associations see Bavaria facing a turning point in environmental policy
The transfer of responsibility for state forests and hunting to the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs has been heavily criticized by environmental associations. This represents a "dangerous turning point in Bavarian nature and environmental policy", said Richard Mergner, Chairman of the Bavarian Nature Conservation Association (BN), in Munich on Monday. "We fear that the state forests will be subordinated to economic interests more than ever in the future and that logging will be further intensified."
According to Mergner, the forest provides "irreplaceable public services" such as flood protection, climate protection, soil protection and the protection of biodiversity. In a letter to Minister President Markus Söder (CSU), the BN state head also described the move as a "completely wrong signal".
Greenpeace also criticized the move: "The coalition agreement does not bode well for climate and nature conservation in Bavaria. Instead of placing more valuable deciduous forests under protection, the coalition is not only rejecting a third national park, but also further environmental protection requirements and protected natural forests across the board," said Stefan Krug, head of the Greenpeace regional office in Bavaria. When it comes to climate protection, only grandiose long-term goals are repeated without making them concrete with milestones and measures.
Krug continued: "If 1,000 new wind turbines are actually to be built by 2030, around 140 would have to be built every year, and this year there have only been six so far". Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) should not unilaterally shift the criminally neglected expansion of wind power to Bavaria's state forests.
In their new coalition agreement, the CSU and Free Voters had agreed to shift responsibilities for hunting and state forests. Previously, these tasks were the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. In return, the Ministry of Economic Affairs had transferred its responsibility for tourism to the Ministry of Agriculture.
With Aiwanger, a "hobby hunter" has now assumed responsibility, said Mergner. The honorary chairman of the BN, Hubert Weiger, also emphasized: "The goals for hunting must not be watered down. The forest regeneration goal and the principle of "forest before game" must be strengthened and implemented more consistently, only then can the natural forest regeneration necessary on large areas be achieved.
BN and Greenpeace consider the protection and preservation of forests to be particularly important in the Alpine region due to the climate crisis: Heavy rainfall events are already causing an increase in landslides and mudflows. Huge clear-cut areas, such as those that already exist on thousands of hectares in the Franconian Forest, would be an enormous danger for the inhabited valley areas and for the infrastructure.
The Bavarian Nature Conservation Association (BN) believes that the handover of forest and hunting responsibilities to the Ministry of Economic Affairs could lead to forests being prioritized for economic interests over environmental concerns. Greenpeace shares this concern, stating that the coalition agreement's lack of environmental protection measures is detrimental to climate and nature conservation in Bavaria.
Source: www.dpa.com
