German Green Belt
The Green Belt Germany is a conservation project of several German Länder to create on the nearly 1,400 km long strip of land along the former German - German border, a green belt.
When the Green Belt is located in the core to the area between the so-called Patrol ( Lochplattenweg ) and the former demarcation line between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, which is between 50 and 200 m wide. The strip of land ranging from Travemünde on the Baltic to the former border triangle at court. The Green Belt Germany is part of the Central European section of the Green Belt Europe.
Occasion
The area along the Inner German border remained in the period between its final closure, fastening and military security in 1952 by the GDR and its repeal almost unaffected as a result of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The - formerly so called in the West - " death strip ", located directly on the metal fence was indeed plowed regularly and kept completely free plants with pesticides, but they were all along the border line only about 100 km ². Immediately adjacent to this " control strip " (official DDR parlance), another, at least 500 meters closed wider, also strictly guarded " protective strip " to, with low held, steppe -like vegetation ( to " clear shot " to have ), the more than 700 had km ², and a " 5 - km exclusion zone " in which human activities (especially transport and industry) were strictly controlled and thus severely limited. These zones developed into a haven for endangered animal and plant species. The total area that was inevitably exposed for many decades only low human influence, so is much greater, estimated at close to 8000 km ² ( 1400 km ×. Minutes 5.7 km ), after all, about half the area of Thuringia.
The knowledge of the species and habitat diversity still came from nature conservation studies in the border region from the period in which the inner German border still existed. Preliminary mapping of the bird world, there were already 1979/80 by the federal nature protection in Bavaria. Since reunification, Heinz Sielmann committed to the idea of a " national parks from the Baltic Sea to the Bavarian Forest ".
Plan
Initial ideas for the Green Belt emerged in 1989 and were primarily supported by state of Thuringia and the BUND taken. The Environmental Association would like to act on the states, new expel various protected areas along the Green Belt. This is not only the core area but also adjacent areas are being protected as a habitat and developed, especially the large, neighboring and even semi-natural areas that could be found here.
Members of the Federation of Environment and Conservation and the German citizens should be encouraged to make donations so that land along the Green Belt can be purchased. For the donations, there are different names of " share certificates " on " shares " to sponsorships. In the first years of the BUND organized annual sightseeing tours, partly as a " shareholder meetings ". Thus, the region of the former border strip was long-term attractive for tourists.
Speaking at a conference on "Perspectives of the Green Belt " in Bonn in July 2003, took over the patronage of Mikhail Gorbachev for the project. There also the further vision of the Green Belt Europe ( European Green Belt) has been made public.
The project is controversial since its inception. The border strip is owned by the federal government, planned to sell and wanted to send the proceeds to the new federal states. The Thuringian state government, which supported the project as the first " Green Belt", suggested that the federal government should be left to the countries directly the surfaces so that they could identify them as protected areas. Saxony contradicted decided this proposal. Reason was the intended distribution of the sale proceeds in accordance with the inhabitants of the countries. This Saxony would have gotten a much higher proportion than Thuringia, whose territory runs the longest section. Finally, the border fortifications that lead to and through Berlin and are likely to achieve the highest prices were taken out of the negotiations. Saxony agreed on the Thuringian proposal in principle. 2005 was the planned transfer of the land to the countries part of the coalition agreement. In 2008, she succeeded in Thuringia. The negotiations between the federal government and the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Saxony -Anhalt in 2009 were not yet completed. Regardless of the BUND surfaces from a private collection acquired in the Green Belt, which accounted for until mid-2011 a total of 580 acres
Implementation
2001/2002, the land and the animals living there were recognized, financially supported by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Federal Ministry of Environment. The investigation confirmed the exceptional status of the Green Belt as a chain particularly valuable biotopes.
How BUND reports, 109 different habitat types were recorded, of which half is on the Red List of Germany. 28 % of the Green Belt are protected as nature reserves, 38% are classified as so-called Special Areas of Conservation. The data were focus areas - mostly of national importance - determined which form the core zones of the biotope network. In addition, it became clear that very many of the parks are located along the Green Belt that are important for the biotope network.
In June 2003 took place on the Green Belt in collaboration with the GEO magazine the " Biodiversity Day " instead. 500 experts mapped in 24 hours more than 5200 different plant and animal species in the Green Belt, including species that already were considered extinct.
For the 763 km long section of the Green Belt in the Free State of Thuringia has its own mission statement for the conservation and design.
Public response
In 2009, the nature filmmaker Andreas Kieling wandered along the Green Belt along and documented the country and people along the former border in the five-part TV series centers in the wild Germany ( ZDF). The travel industry now offers tourist excursions in connection with the Green Belt. The aerial archaeologist Klaus Leidorf documented since the opening of the border the Green Belt from a bird's perspective. In an exhibition at the " House of the People " in Probstzella his aerial photographs can be seen from the Green Belt.
Habitats and species
The Green Belt is a cross section of almost all German landscapes of the northern German lowlands to uplands. Therefore, you will find there a wide range of habitat types, such as brownfields, verbuschte areas Altgrasfluren, pioneer forest, water, wetlands and bogs.
The diversity of the landscape is an important refuge and home to many animal and plant species: Rare orchids such as lady's slipper, the Clubtail ( a Snaketail ), the Abbiss Fritillary, the Whinchat, Red-backed Shrike, the black stork, kingfishers and otters.