Green Belt Europe

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The course of the European Green Belt with the division into three main regions.

The Green Belt Europe (European Green Belt) is a nature conservation initiative that aims to preserve the border strip of the Iron Curtain across Europe , which was largely left in its natural state as a result of the Cold War . This “Green Belt” has a total length of over 12,500 km and extends from the Arctic Ocean in northern Norway to the Black Sea on the border with Turkey , running through 24 European countries, 16 of which are members of the European Union . Patron of the Green Belt Europe, the World Conservation Union (World Conservation Union - IUCN short).

The genesis

The idea of ​​a European Green Belt arose from the project Grünes Band Deutschland , initiated primarily by BUND , which secured the border strip on the inner German border for nature conservation . This border strip, between 50 and 200 m wide, has become a refuge for threatened species , as nature was able to develop here almost undisturbed during the Cold War. In 2004 the foundations for the “European Green Belt” were laid at an international conference in Hungary . The result of this event, which was mainly financed by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation , was a work program that has since been further developed with the affected stakeholders .

On the secondary borders to the southwest or west of the border triangle Austria - Hungary - Yugoslavia / Slovenia and Bulgaria - Greece - Yugoslavia / North Macedonia (near Petritsch ) there were no installations that were intended to effectively prevent those who want to flee from illegally crossing the border, and also none with the internal German one Border comparable access bans. As a result, nature did not fall into a kind of “slumber” at these borders, which could have been ended by opening borders. It remained largely intact for other reasons. Nonetheless, biotope networks are also sought along the secondary borders of the European Green Belt, which are similar to those on the Iron Curtain in the narrower sense of the word.

The organizational structure

The European Green Belt has been divided into three main sections to facilitate coordination:

Each section has a regional coordinator who is also responsible for an improved exchange of information, good coordination, the execution of projects and the organization of workshops. In all participating countries, a representative was appointed to coordinate national activities in the relevant ministry (in Germany, for example, an employee of the Federal Office for Environmental Protection). These so-called “National Focal Points” are intended to promote synergy effects between the work of the national ministry and the activities of the Green Belt and ensure good communication between the ministries and the European Green Belt. The “National Focal Points” coordinate directly with both the regional coordinators and the Green Belt Secretariat.

In addition, the largest possible number of interested and affected stakeholders will be involved in the project , as this is the only way to achieve an effective protection system. The main stakeholders include national and international NGOs , national and regional ministries and other state administrative units as well as landowners and other interested parties.

The protection activities carried out by NGOs are usually financed by donations . In addition, there are protective efforts on the part of the state.

The work program

The aim of the work program adopted in 2004 is to support the participating countries in international cooperation, to promote sustainable development and to stop the loss of species on the Green Belt by 2010. To this end, seven goals were drawn up that should follow the SMART management principle.

The ecological importance

Along the line that separated the eastern from the western part of Europe until 1989 (here the former border fence between Thuringia and Hesse), a narrow strip of nature worthy of protection is to be preserved.
Thayatal National Park in Austria, on the border with the Czech Republic.
“Iron Curtain Memorial” in Bučina , Czech Republic. Not far from the border crossing to the Bavarian Forest National Park near Finsterau .

In addition to the preservation of threatened species, one of the main goals of the Green Belt is the barrier-free networking of different areas. Existing national parks and other protected areas should be integrated into the Green Belt system in such a way that an exchange between populations and z. B. migration of animals between the individual habitats is possible.

The individual sections of the Green Belt are characterized by different habitat conditions:

Fennoscandia

The Fennoscandia section of the Green Belt is home to parts of the last remaining original boreal forest . The significant habitats along the Green Belt include parts of the Eurasian taiga, extraordinary high locations of the pine , areas with generally high biodiversity , especially in connection with wetlands , and parts of the coast. Reindeer , wolf , brown bear , ringed seal and a number of endemic animal species can be found along the Fennoscandian Green Belt as well as migratory birds and endangered plants.

Central Europe

The Central European section of the Green Belt mostly runs through intensively used cultural landscapes . That is why the former border strip has become a retreat for hundreds of animal and plant species on the Red List . For example, numerous special bird species such as whinchat , black stork , black grouse , nightjar and red-backed killer can be found along the Green Belt .

Balkans

The Balkans section of the Green Belt is primarily characterized by its great diversity of landscapes. This section is particularly important for nature conservation due to the connection of species-rich wetlands with the many rivers in the region, especially the Danube . The green belt runs in this section at all altitudes of 0 m above sea level. NN on the coast of the Black Sea and the Adriatic up to 2753 m above sea level. NN in the Korab Mountains .

Legal basis

The European Green Belt is not a directly legally protected protected area. It receives its protection status via the protected areas within the European Green Belt ( nature reserves , Natura 2000 areas, etc.) as well as via Article 3 paragraph 3 and Article 10 of the Habitats Directive .

The aim of the mentioned guideline articles is to protect the landscape elements outside of the Natura 2000 network, which are essential for migration, geographical distribution and genetic exchange of wild species due to their linear, continuous structure or their networking function Coherence) of Natura 2000 sites.

In Germany, the Federal Nature Conservation Act (§§ 20 and 21 BNatSchG) obliges the federal states to set up a biotope network on at least 10% of the land area. "The biotope network serves to permanently secure the populations of wild animals and plants including their habitats, biotopes and communities as well as the preservation, restoration and development of functional ecological interrelationships. It should also contribute to improving the interrelationship of the" Natura 2000 "network." .

In June 2013, the Austrian Constitutional Court recognized the "special ecological importance" of the European Green Belt in its decision in cases V 2/2013 and V 3/2013 .

For some years there are efforts to the European Green Belt as a UNESCO - World Heritage Site to nominate.

Danger

The existence of the Green Belt is endangered by a number of factors. In Fennoscandia, deforestation has increased since the end of the Cold War. The construction of new traffic infrastructure or traffic routes cuts the green belt in some places, although in the states that actively support the GBE project, local authorities are mostly responsible for the road construction burden, so negotiations with private owners are mostly only necessary for the purchase of land. In addition, areas of the Green Belt are used intensively for agriculture or are devalued by tourism projects. Due to the lack of disturbance in large areas of the European Green Belt for decades, the area has become one of the last places of refuge (especially in Central Europe) for species sensitive to disturbance. Settlement expansions , the construction of infrastructure, tourism projects, etc. therefore generally lead to a significant deterioration in living space .

As early as 2001, 15 percent of the Green Belt in Germany was impaired or destroyed.

criticism

In contrast to the initiators of the Iron Curtain Trail , the planners of the European Green Belt assume that the former Yugoslavia and Albania were completely surrounded by an "iron curtain" at the time of the Cold War. Since a majority of historians do not share this view, there is no explanation as to why nature on the branch lines of the Green Belt is said to have fallen into the "slumber" that is typical of the western and southern borders of the former Warsaw Pact states .

The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation gives an indirect explanation for the situation along the Albanian border. The population living there still consists largely of self-sufficient people who cover their energy needs mainly by collecting wood. A development that could endanger nature has hardly taken place there to this day. Nature on the Green Belt essentially deserves its good ecological status from Albania's economic “backwardness”. This is also evident in the BfN's criticism of the inadequate management skills of the Albanian administrative staff who are responsible for the Green Belt in Albania.

See also

literature

  • Hans Peter Jeschke: The linear cultural landscape zone “European Green Belt and Iron Curtain”. Notes on the structure and conception as natural and cultural heritage of outstanding importance. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Linz 2019, pp. 16–33 ( PDF on land-oberoesterreich.gv.at).
  • Norddeutsche Naturschutzakademie (Ed.): Messages from the NNA , 1994, Issue 3. Main topic: Nature conservation on the former inner-German border strip . NNA - North German Nature Conservation Academy , Schneverdingen 1994, ISSN  0938-9903 .
  • Stefan Esser: Bike tours on the Green Belt: In 32 stages from the Czech Republic to the Baltic Sea, touring bike and mountain bike routes . Bruckmann, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-765-44774-7 .

Web links

Commons : European Green Belt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.europeangreenbelt.org/
  2. ↑ Project profile European Green Belt. In: bfn.de. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), accessed on January 27, 2020 .
  3. ↑ European Green Belt: The Structure ( Memento of the original of May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  4. ↑ European Green Belt: The coordinators ( Memento of the original dated May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  5. ↑ European Green Belt: The Focal Points ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  6. ↑ European Green Belt: The Program of Work ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  7. ↑ European Green Belt: The Green Belt Book ( Memento of the original dated June 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  8. ↑ Central European Green Belt
  9. ↑ European Green Belt: Program of Work ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  10. ↑ Le Rideau Vert ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  11. ↑ European Green Belt: Fennoscandia and the Baltic ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  12. ↑ European Green Belt: Central Europe ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  13. ↑ European Green Belt: South Eastern Europe ( Memento of the original dated May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeangreenbelt.org
  14. ↑ Federal Nature Conservation Act (Federal Law Gazette 2009, Part I No. 51, Law on the New Regulation of the Law of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management), URL: http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/themen/recht/Verk%FCndung % 20im% 20Bundesgesetzblatt.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 17, 2014@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bfn.de  
  15. ↑ Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Austria of June 19, 2013 in cases V 2/2013 and V 3/2013, URL: http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/Vfgh/JFT_20130619_13V00002_00/JFT_20130619_13V00002_00.pdf , accessed May 17, 2014
  16. ↑ Karl Heinz Gaudry, Katharina Diehl, Manuel Oelke, Gunnar Finke, Werner Konold: Feasibility Study World Heritage Green Belt. Final report. 2014 ( PDF at bfn.de , accessed on December 27, 2016).
  17. ↑ Helmut Schlumprecht, Franka Ludwig, Liana Geidezis, Kai Frobel: R&D project “Inventory of the Green Belt”. Nature conservation significance of the longest biotope network in Germany. In: Nature and Landscape. 77 (9/10), 2002, pp. 407-414.
  18. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (2014): The Green Belt , accessed on December 17, 2019
  19. ↑ Elena Popovska: The history of Yugoslavia (19th and 20th centuries) . University of Graz. Lecture series, winter semester 2009/10, p. 10, accessed on March 5, 2020
  20. ↑ Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz: Photo of the border bridge over the Mur between Bad Radkersburg (Austria) and Gornja Radgona (Yugoslavia) 1965. Exhibit from the exhibition “100 Years Border III: 1946–2018. Living with the border ” . 2019, accessed March 10, 2020
  21. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN): Green Belt Albania . Retrieved March 11, 2020.