Flower strips and grassland: More chances for temporary nature conservation

Created: 06/29/2022, 13:30

By: Charlotte Borst

Flower strips on fields are not only beautiful to look at, but also useful for insects.

© Symbolic photo/municipality of Kirchheim

Forestry and agricultural land should be used more sparingly in the district.

All factions in the committee for energy transition, agriculture and environmental issues in the district agree.

But the reality is usually different.

District

- There are no fields and forests for a commercial area or building land, then further fields are withdrawn from production as compensation areas.

Saving land and implementing high-quality nature conservation is what makes production-integrated compensation, or PIK for short, possible.

The CSU parliamentary group has asked the administration in the district office for a report on PIK measures on site.

Because with flowering strips, construction measures can be balanced just as well as on purely nature conservation areas.

Increase the conservation value of farmed land

The Lower Nature Conservation Authority examines and advises farmers and builders on whether PIK measures are possible on agricultural and forestry land that increase the nature conservation value of farmed land.

The permanent PIK measures include, for example, the establishment of a meadow orchard or the conversion of a field into grassland, they are entered in the land register as limited personal easements.

However, PIK measures can also be carried out on different areas, for example rotating with the crop rotation.

The lower nature conservation authority for PIK on fields names, for example, arable weed fields or flowering strips as sensible measures.

On grassland, farmers can develop species-rich grassland through extensification.

In the forest, the development of natural forest communities or the creation of sparse forest stands are suitable.

The areas, the requirements and a period of around 25 years are determined by an agreement under the law of obligations.

An advantage for the farmers: the PIK payment is independent of market and weather conditions.

Examples of current PIK measures

Some PIK measures are currently running or have already been implemented in the district, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority reported: The Taufkirchen eco-account: Here older coniferous forest stands are being converted in the direction of oak and hornbeam stands.

The aim is to develop a natural forest community.

The forest is strengthened by the growth of deciduous trees.

Development plan in Garching: The planning of a residential area on the Schleissheimer Canal causes an intervention in nature and the landscape that has to be compensated.

In addition, species protection measures are necessary, since the construction of the residential area will affect skylarks and partridges.

An intensively cultivated field is used as a compensation area.

A concept was developed for this: The field will be developed into a light, extensively used summer grain field with arable weed vegetation.

In addition, a species-rich extensive grassland with a meager hay meadow is to be developed to the north, which serves as a breeding, feeding and cover habitat for birds throughout the year.

Expansion of the Föhringer Ring: In the course of the road expansion project, species-poor grassland is being developed into species-rich grassland in the FFH area "Graeben und Niedermoorreste im Erdinger Moos".

The project is still in the approval process.

Support for this method came from all fractions.

At the same time, the district councilors expressed the hope that the organization and documentation should involve as little bureaucracy as possible for the farmers.