Who endangers the hamster? The BBV chairman Michael Stolzenberger says that the federal government protects nature conservation with general judgments about agriculture.
Photo: Alfred Schott
The Bund Naturschutz Bayern (BN) sees agriculture as the main danger for the endangered field hamster and, as reported, calls for an effective protection concept in Bavaria in a complaint to the EU Commission. The Bavarian Farmers’ Association (BBV) defends itself against the allegations and speaks of “general slander”. Effective field hamster protection is only possible together with agriculture, wrote the Würzburg BBV district chairman Michael Stolzenberger in a press release. Instead of working together on effective protection concepts, the BN went on a confrontation course. “With this attitude, we gain nothing for the protection of species,” said Stolzenberger.
“Agriculture is ready to do more for field hamster protection.”
Michael Stolzenberger, BBV district chairman–
The region between Würzburg, Schweinfurt and Kitzingen is the last retreat of the strictly protected field hamster in Bavaria. The BN speaks of a dramatic decline in the population in the past three years, especially on the southern edge of the deposit, i.e. in the southern district of Würzburg. The BBV, on the other hand, assumes that previous inventory figures have been overstated to underpin the drama of the decline. In addition, BBV chairman Stolzenberger points out that the lack of feed in the dry years 2017 to 2019 also led to a decrease in the stock and the reduction of predators such as the fox has not been adequately addressed so far.
“Agriculture is ready to do more for field hamster protection,” added Stolzenberger. He emphasizes that agriculture has developed in terms of the use of technology, fertilization and crop protection in the direction of ecology in the past two decades. In some areas of the existing area, an efficient hamster protection program is already in place in cooperation with farmers and conservation experts.
Grain strips for the hamster
This protection program, in cooperation with agriculture and the landscape conservation association, provides, for example, that strips are not cut in grain fields where the hamsters can cover their winter supplies. The farmers receive compensation. So far, this program has been particularly widespread in the northern district of Würburg.
In the southern district, along with the construction of an eight-kilometer bypass near Giebelstadt, a large-scale compensation procedure for the protection of field hamsters and meadow harriers should start. For this purpose, individual areas with a total size of 16 hectares are to be cultivated permanently in accordance with the needs of the endangered species.
The federal nature conservation criticizes the construction of the bypass and the compensation procedure, which is to be used in Bavaria for the first time in this way. In addition, two years ago there had been a break between the BN district association and the Würzburg landscape maintenance association. Even before the start of the current planning approval process, the BN had announced that it would take legal action against the building permit.
–
-
Wurzburg
-
Gerhard Meissner
-
Conservation
-
construction
-
Farmers’ associations
-
Bavarian Farmers’ Association
-
Threat and threat
-
European commission
-
Farmers and farmers
-
natural reserve
-
Crop protection
–
–
–
