It is a demanding pilot test on a large area near Parsdorf.
Farmers try to get several ecological aspects under one roof and at the same time to be paid for their work.
An interim result.
Parsdorf
- "We have come a long way for the first year," says Josef Rüegg from the Ebersberg Landscape Management Association.
The organization is an association and takes care of the connection between nature conservation and agriculture.
Rüegg holds binoculars to his eyes, like other participants at the meeting.
The light drizzle and the cool wind don't bother anyone.
The fields with the still low spring green and the various laid out vegetation strips are examined closely.
The view also goes up.
Skylarks are in the air.
They breed on the special fields on the large industrial buildings that are currently being built in the north of Parsdorf (municipality of Vaterstetten) in the direction of Grub (municipality of Poing).
The southern limit of the site is the motorway.
Statutory compensation area
The area is a legally prescribed compensation area for the new commercial settlement, but in large areas not a biotope in the narrower sense, but largely used for agriculture, subject to set ecological requirements and restrictions.
But it is also clear that the areas are not playgrounds.
Dogs have to be on a leash anyway because of the young birds when going for a walk and use by mountain bikers is harmful, even on the apparently deserted gravel surfaces - as tempting as they may be for the athletes.
Because a very special concept is being implemented there.
Hence the recently installed red and white barrier tapes and the new signs.
Extraordinary concept
It's a big project. Centrally involved are the Lower Nature Conservation Authority in the Ebersberg District Office and the Environment Office of the community of Vaterstetten. The adjacent Areral for BMW and KraussMaffei covers around 44 hectares, i.e. around 44 soccer fields. The compensation area, an area of around 24 hectares, i.e. 24 soccer fields. The compensation area is directly adjacent to the premises of the newly settled companies. Something like this is very rare on this scale. And there is an extraordinary concept.
Actually, the landscape here would be full of mixed forests without human influence.
Areas for fields and meadows were only created through clearing.
However, very intensive use can be harmful.
The project near Parsdorf aims to preserve or restore the original cultural landscape in a manner that is compatible with nature, including for insects and birds but also for agriculture.
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Nature before industrial buildings: Ambitious project in the north of Parsdorf.
Mountain bikers should better not ride here.
© Stefan Rossmann
The concept: The human intervention remains, but is planned close to nature. According to a precise strategy, parallel field strips were laid out. The Ebersberg Landscape Management Association was commissioned to coordinate the project. But he only agreed when, following a request, organic farmer and long-time district chairman of the farmers' association Franz Lenz from Zorneding agreed to take over the concrete implementation in the fields. "If he had said no, we would not have done it," said Rüegg. “You need a lot of experience for that. And a lot of effort is also necessary. "
There are various difficulties and limitations. The fields are relatively narrow. Very wide implements, as is common in intensive arable farming, cannot be used, explains Lenz. Also, the areas may not be cultivated at certain times, in the breeding phases of the ground-nesters, such as now in spring. So also not to loosen the soil or to remove possibly disturbing plants, some say weeds, the other weeds, in order to provide space and light for the actual cultivated arable crops. Some of the fields must initially remain fallow land in the spring. Something can only be added later. “Maybe it works with buckwheat,” Lenz suspects. “But we have to try everything. We are currently only in the transition phase anyway. "
Regular crop rotation is specified.
"All of this together is something else than organic farming," says Lenz.
“It is an attempt to bring the cultural landscape, which has been shaped over centuries, into harmony with nature.
That is the art. "
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On the area (from left): Josef Erl (Lower Nature Conservation Authority, District), Daniela Weinberger (Municipality of Vaterstetten), Josef Rüegg (Landscape Management Association), Wolfgang Kuhn (Environment Agency Vaterstetten).
© Stefan Rossmann
“It's not about the maximum yield from the field,” says Rüegg. The farmer gets a financial compensation for his higher labor input and his possibly lower harvest success. “He is paid for his work for the common good,” says Rüegg, who himself comes from agriculture. So a possible additional source of income and a new field of activity for the farmers - not just food production but nature conservation. The investor in the adjacent commercial space is contributing a considerable financial share to this project.
Clover grass, winter wheat, oat-barley-pea mix, summer triticale, broad beans and winter barley were grown on the Parsdorf areas.
There is also a strip of sunflowers that was not harvested last year.
“That was my decision,” says Lenz.
Rüegg adds: "Partridges can also hide there."
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New life on the gravel of the gravel plain: Cuttings from an area of the Garching Heath were spread out with over 100 different plant species.
Many insects are also expected with this.
© Stefan Rossmann
Both humus and red layer were removed from three strips. What was left was the gravel of the gravel plain. The specialists spread a grassland mixture with seeds of herbs and grass, around 50 different plant species, on two strips. Cuttings from an area of the Garching Heath with over 100 different plant species were spread out on the third strip. “This also brings insects,” says Rüegg. “Not necessarily rare species, but hopefully a large number.” Good for the birds, which use it to find food for their offspring. "It will take even longer before something can be harvested as green cuttings," says Rüegg. “I'm excited to see the results,” says Lenz.
The overall project also includes flower strips along the street. Planned wet areas in the far north of the area, which are to be fed with rainwater from the roofs of the new industrial buildings, have not yet been created. There are also plans for designated paths that walkers and cyclists can take without causing damage to the fields.
