In the district of Munich there are five nature reserves in which habitats of animals, plants and fungi are permanently preserved.
The expulsion often depends on political and economic decisions.
District
- Whistling birds, croaking toads, glittering water and enchanted forests, in whose niches ground-nesters tend their chicks.
On the one hand.
On the other hand, there are officials who pore over complex protection categories and administrative levels at their desks and make their way through the jungle of authorities.
Welcome to the nature reserve.
The bird sanctuary south of the fish ponds of the middle Isar, the Kupferbachtal near Unterlaus, the Schwarzhölzl, the Mallertshofer Holz with Heiden and the southern Fröttmaninger Heide - these are the five areas in the district of Munich that are preserved by the highest level of the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
"In the end, it is often a political decision whether areas are classified as nature conservation areas (NSG) or as landscape protection areas (LSG)," says Rudolf Orteuetel, managing director of the Munich district group of the Federal Nature Conservation Union.
The LSG “is less about natural habitats, but more about what Homo sapiens made of them,” explains Bastian.
99 percent of the natural cultural landscape
How certain areas are classified ultimately depends on factors such as land ownership, use and regulatory capacity. "Farmers are often reluctant to protect nature," regrets bird conservationist and Federal Cross of Merit, Manfred Siering. “99 percent of nature is already a cultural landscape”, which means that it is cultivated for human benefit, and new nature reserves are only very rarely designated. In addition, it comes that an expulsion by the higher nature conservation authority of the government of Upper Bavaria takes place “and they don't do that to themselves. Your answer is always: We have a shortage of staff. ”The lower nature conservation authority, on the other hand, is only responsible for the designation of landscape protection areas - there are accordingly more, 13 in the Munich district.
Can the lack of nature protection be due to a lack of staff in the authorities?
“The owners of the land often even want it to become a nature reserve,” says Rudolf Basti, “but the authorities are quite hierarchical, so that usually only the top level can make the final decision.”
One example of the faltering classification of nature reserves is the Isar valley in the southern district.
In the section between Schäftlarn and Bad Tölz, the river valley is a nature reserve - in the district of Munich “only” a landscape protection area.
Cyclists race over dozing snakes
Mountain bike trails or recreational areas could be identified much more easily with a regulated and high degree of protection. That is important, because mountain bikers in particular would damage flora and fauna off the beaten track. “That is not a bad will,” says Bastel, but at high speeds on the bike you inevitably run over plants and animals such as resting grass snakes. The protection of wild animals must definitely be in the foreground. After expulsion, there would also be a need for “area supervisors for all nature reserves”, as they already exist with the Isar rangers south of Schäftlarn. With enough education, a harmonious coexistence of man and nature in the Munich district is definitely possible, according to Orte. "Man belongs in nature."
The accessibility of the wild nature for everyone is not a matter of course.
In many countries privately owned lakes and forests are closed to visitors.
Tourists were always amazed at this privilege here in Bavaria.
"It is something very special that you can freely enter nature with us - that is not the case everywhere," explains Bastel, who has been the full-time managing director of the Munich district group at the Federal Nature Conservation Association since 1995.
Nature conservation and education are central to preserving this valuable freedom, which is even anchored in the Basic Law.
Because not only mountain bikers have recently been careless with nature.
Litter or illegal fires are also a problem.
"In the Truderinger Forest, several fires are reported every year that are getting out of control."
Each protected area has its own character
In the five existing nature reserves in the district, protection theory is already in practice.
Each of the areas has its own special character, different plants, animals and soil conditions.
While the wetland near Ismaning provides a home for slippery toads and wet grasses, in the Kupferbachtal calcareous springs survive as the legacy of the Inn-Chiemsee glacier and the Schwarzhölzl with its gloomy black pines always provides shade, the heathland in the north of Munich offers space and air to breathe deeply .
The sustainable protection of these unique places depends on the behavior of the people.
To the series:
In the near future, we will present the five nature reserves in the Munich district in loose succession.
