Gäa (interest group)
| Gaa | |
|---|---|
|
|
| legal form | registered association |
| founding | May 1989 |
| Seat | Dresden |
| purpose | Promotion of organic cultivation in the new federal states |
| Members | 485 (2019) |
| Website | www.gaea.de |
The Verband Gäa e. V. (Gäa for short) is an association of farmers, producers and processors in the organic sector with the aim of improving and promoting organic farming in the new federal states . The name is derived from the ancient Greek name for the titanium goddess of the earth Gaia . The guidelines of the Gäa are stricter than the EU organic regulations.
description
Gäa is a cultivation association to which farmers, processors and trading companies are affiliated. The association represents 485 organic farms with 51,000 hectares in Germany, 90% of which are in eastern Germany. In South Tyrol 35 farms are affiliated to the association. The seat of the association is Dresden . Although the association originally only existed in the GDR and its focus is still in eastern Germany today, there are now also smaller associations, e.g. B. in Bavaria , Hessen and South Tyrol.
aims
The work and activity of Gäa is based on the idea of protecting the diversity of "primordial mother earth". According to the association, technologies such as genetic engineering contradict this basic principle and ecological economy. Gäa therefore not only rejects the use of these technologies, but is also committed to educational work among the population and to the critical examination of these issues by political decision-makers. Gäa is also committed to protecting bees and has created a web-based platform on which beekeepers and association companies can post their colonies and traditional costumes free of charge. Organic farmers are to be assured a higher yield, and beekeepers get access to unpolluted regional areas in order to maintain the vitality and health of their colonies.
development
The origin of the Gäa lies in the environmental movements of the 1980s in the GDR. Before the fall of the Wall , namely in May 1989, the association was founded as the first cultivation association in the GDR in Dresden . At the beginning of the 1990s, there was a steady expansion at regional level in state associations that are united in the Gäa. In 1995 the Gäa guidelines were recognized and the association was incorporated into the umbrella organization AGÖL . Further regional associations were founded in South Tyrol in 1999, in Hesse in 2001 and in Bavaria in 2002. In 2002 Gäa became a founding member of the new branch association BÖLW (Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft). In 2003 Gäa received IFOAM accreditation as an eco-certifier. This is how Gäa farmers and manufacturers work at an internationally recognized level. For the 2005 harvest, Gäa received BioSuisse direct recognition - this once again improved market access for Gäa-certified bandages.
Gäa has been a member of the German Nature Conservation Ring since 2007 .
Surname
The name Gäa comes from ancient Greek mythology and is derived from "Gaia" - "primordial mother earth". The federal association Gäa has its roots in the oppositional church environmental movement of the former GDR and was founded in Dresden, where the federal office of the Gäa eV - Association of Organic Agriculture is still located today.
Guidelines
The Gäa guidelines are among the strictest in Germany. There are specific guidelines in production for ecological fish and pond management, mushroom production, wild fruit collection and beekeeping. Nature conservation aspects and social guidelines have been an integral part of the Gäa guidelines since the beginning and are checked during the annual controls. Since it was founded, Gäa has continued to develop its cultivation guidelines, so that Gäa farmers and processors produce and process according to more consistent standards than the EU organic regulation prescribes.
Certification system
The certification system is subject to a transparent representation in the entire chain from the producer, through the places of processing to the Gäa trading partners. A constantly updated list of the Gäa-certified contractors is published on the Gäa website.