According to an analysis, Germany lags far behind in the designation of strict nature protection areas in a European comparison. According to the University of Bologna, the Federal Republic of Germany is currently in third from last place of the 27 EU countries with only 0.6 percent designated protected area.
Only Belgium (0.1 percent) and Denmark (0.2) do worse. According to the evaluation, the leader Luxembourg has designated 36.3 percent of its area as strictly protected areas. It is followed by Sweden (10.1), Finland (9.6), Latvia (5.7) and Italy (5.1).
Strengthen biological diversity
In their biodiversity strategy, the countries of the European Union want to ensure that 30 percent of land and sea areas are placed under legally binding protection by 2030. Strict protection should apply to a third of it – i.e. 10 percent of the entire area. The goal is to preserve biological diversity and strengthen the suffering ecosystems.
Strict conservation areas are areas that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies as Ia, Ib or II. In Germany, these include the Bavarian Forest, Black Forest, Saxon Switzerland, Lower Oder Valley, Eifel and Wadden Sea National Parks, as the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) explained.
According to the scientists from Italy, apart from Luxembourg and Sweden, no EU country has yet reached the 10 percent hurdle. In the European Union, only 3.37 percent of the areas have been placed under strict protection.
Majority of the protected areas in alpine areas
In addition, the researchers found that there is not only an imbalance between countries, but also between the altitudes at which protected areas are designated. “For example, we find very few strictly protected areas in the lowlands and at low altitudes,” said biologist Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, who was involved in the study. In Germany, too, most of the strictly protected areas are in alpine areas; According to the study, 5.0 percent of the local mountains are under appropriate protection.
The German Nature Conservation Union criticizes the fact that 37 percent of the area in Germany currently has protection status. “Only a few of the areas actually protect the biodiversity, the species, the habitat and the ecosystem,” writes the Nabu.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation did not make a forecast as to whether the goal of 10 percent strictly protected areas would be achieved in Germany by 2030. The nature reserve and wilderness area Königsbrücker Heide in Saxony should soon be classified as IUCN category Ib with its almost 7000 hectares. In addition, further area reports are planned for 2024, according to the BfN.
