Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin: Keeping a key election pledge in environmental policy
Bundestag and Bundesrat finally agreed on the new Nature Conservation Act after a mediation procedure. The amendment can now enter into force. "Today one of the German government's a key reformprojects in environmental policy has been adopted and another election pledge kept. After four failed attempts in the past legislative periods, now the course has been set for a comprehensivemodernisation of nature conservation in Germany." said Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin.
The existing legislation, the Federal Nature Conservation Act of 1976, is being amended by the new law. "We will take nature conservation out of reservations. We will not be able to fulfil ourresponsibility to future generations by confining nature conservation to protected areas", Jürgen Trittin continued. One of the fundamental elements of the new regulation is the promotion of anagriculture compatible with nature and the environment by clear requirements for "good professional practice". That includes e.g. the stipulation that fertilizers may only be applied in quantitiesthat do not lead to an input of nutrients in rivers and groundwater, that meadows and grassland in hillside areas or river valleys, which are prone to erosion, may not be used as arable land and thata forest management should be targeted which is in harmony with nature and does not imply deforestation. Another element is the provision that farmers will have to document their use of pesticidesand fertilizers. The latter was the most important issue in the mediation procedures between Bundestag and Bundesrat: In the future, only those farms managing over 8 hectares of land will have tosubmit so-called "plot-related" documentation, meaning separate documentation for every plot of arable land and grassland. Smaller farms may submit one general supporting document.
The rights of the citizens to participate in the legislation process are reinforced by the introduction - for the first time nationwide - of the instrument of legal action instituted byassociations. "We are giving the Länder the explicit opportunity to extend the right to institute legal action also to proceedings and issues that we could not deal with in a federal act",stressed Trittin. Another new element is the establishment of a network of interlinked biotopes covering at least 10 % of the whole area for the conservation of biological diversity.
The relationship between nature conservation and sports and recreation has also been redefined by anchoring the recreational value of nature and landscape into the objectives of the law. Infuture, the lowering of the groundwater level must be taken into consideration for every interference with nature and landscape. The obligatory remediation and compensatory measures must be in linewith the technical requirements of nature conservation. Energy transmission masts have to be constructed in such a way that they do not pose the risk of electrocution for larger birds such as storksand raptors.
The new Nature Conservation Act also plays a considerable role in restructuring the energy supply in Germany and complying with the targets of climate protection: This amendment helps establishthe preconditions for the increased use of offshore wind energy - in particular in the Exclusive Economic Area (EEZ) within 12 and 200 sea miles off the coast. "With the entry into force of theNature Conservation Act", said Trittin, " there will be legal security and investment security for investing in the use of the environmentally compatible offshore wind energy." This clearly enhancesthe status of marine nature conservation. The government will be able to identify protection areas in the EEZ in accordance with the EC Habitats and Species Directive (FFH Directive) or the EC BirdDirective. Such a possibility did not previously exist.
"Altogether, we have completed a comprehensive renewal of the Nature Conservation Act. After 25 years, which is how old this Act is, this was long overdue" continued Federal Environment MinisterJürgen Trittin. Now it is up to the Länder to transpose this new law into their own legislation on nature conservation.