As of: March 1, 2024, 10:30 a.m
By: Robert Langer
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Demonstration of active work for species protection (from left): Gregor Häuser (Association for Nature Conservation Vaterstetten), Uwe Peters (BN Ebersberg district) and Julika Schreiber, BN regional representative for Upper Bavaria.
© S. Rossmann
The declining numbers of amphibians that the BUND Nature Conservation in Bavaria notes annually during its amphibian rescues are an alarming sign.
Ingelsberg
– “Love is blind.” The signs are striking and warn drivers in particular to watch out for amphibians that are now making their way to their spawning grounds.
“We don’t really like using the signs anymore,” says Regina Wegenmann from the district office of BUND Nature Conservation with a smile at the official meeting in Ingelsberg, on the municipal border between Zorneding and Vaterstetten.
“The posters are often stolen because of the motif.” But the signs are now having an impact.
Helpers who set up protective fences on the roads along the animals' spawning routes would be better noticed, even later when they then took animals out of the buckets on the fences every day and brought them across the road.
More and more animals are surviving because there are many volunteers.
Maria Wirnitzer, deputy mayor (SPD) in Vaterstetten, particularly emphasized this.
Good cooperation in the Ebersberg district
The amphibian aid in the Ebersberg district is a cooperation project between the lower nature conservation authority in the district office, the road construction authority and the volunteers from the Federal Nature Conservation Association (BN).
“The collaboration works wonderfully,” says Wegenmann.
This makes the Ebersberg district something very special.
The heart of the work of conservationists
Meeting at the fence in Ingelsberg © Bund Nature Conservation
The protection of amphibians has been at the heart of the BN's work on site for decades.
Last year, over 6,500 amphibians were carried across the road, regardless of wind and weather, to save them from being run over.
“There are 14 managed crossing points in Ebersberg across the district,” reports Roswitha Holzmann, deputy head of the Lower Nature Conservation Authority.
“Every year in January, the UNB invites the road construction authority and the Federal Nature Conservation Agency to a coordination meeting so that this large-scale species protection project works well.” The helpers are organized into groups for each location.
There is a designated person responsible for each of these, such as Sabine Kaps, BN member and fence supervisor for Ingelsberg.
Deployment of the road construction authority
The road construction department stores the fences in mesh boxes over the winter and brings them to the sites in February.
Across Bavaria, around 6,000 helpers would take care of fences on 450 road sections, said Julika Schreiber, BN regional representative for Upper Bavaria, at the on-site visit.
All amphibian species living in Bavaria are protected under federal law.
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Indicators of ecological status
Amphibians are indicators “of the ecological condition of our homeland”.
14 of the 19 native species are on the red list.
The cause of the development is the high land consumption, the pressure on settlements and the construction of roads, i.e. the overall fragmentation of the landscape.
Agriculture is also responsible.
It also involves the application of pesticides or manure, which is extremely harmful to the amphibians with their sensitive skin.
However, there was no blanket apportionment of blame at the on-site visit.
They said you could talk to the farmers.
“We have had good experiences there,” says Holzmann from UNB.
Things are also difficult for farmers at the moment.
Climate change, agriculture and settlement pressure
Added to this is climate change.
Former spawning waters no longer exist or would dry out during the spawning season.
The animals are also traveling earlier because of the higher temperatures.
However, the migration time can be extended due to intermittent cold snaps during which the animals are not active.
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