Inventory white zone

The white zone inventory is the comprehensive and interdisciplinary recording and documentation of original, near-natural and little-developed natural and cultural landscapes in the state of Vorarlberg in Austria . The inventory of the white zone should (te) serve the Vorarlberg state government as a planning basis for the future development of the alpine area in Vorarlberg and secure or protect these white zones in the long term.

root cause

The near-natural regions in Vorarlberg are - as in the entire Alpine region - under increasing pressure from agriculture, the economy, tourism and settlement activities. There are only a few undeveloped areas in Vorarlberg. Around 19% of the land area in Vorarlberg is already under nature protection (e.g. Natura 2000 areas , plant protection areas , local protection areas or similar).

Concept white zone

The term white zone is sometimes used synonymously for near-natural open spaces, open spaces, quiet zones, quiet areas, protection zones and more. These terms partly differ in their objectives or are used due to regional differences in linguistic usage. In Salzburg there are z. B. the similar term: Alpine quiet zones or in South Tyrol the undeveloped areas .

Basis for planning

The state spatial plan for white zones should in future balance developed and undeveloped landscape areas and ensure the necessary balance in the space. The inventory White Zone is now only a non-binding basis for planning the Vorarlberg state government in relation to the alpine region of Vorarlberg. This should be of particular importance for developments relevant to spatial planning. So far there are no legally binding effects associated with it. Thus only the first phase (recording and documentation) was implemented, but not the second phase (protection or securing of the white areas ). A corresponding ordinance under the Spatial Planning Act, which was planned and with which certain parts of the country should be kept free from development and intensive use for future generations, is no longer in preparation or implementation by the responsible Vorarlberg state government.

history

In July 2012, the Vorarlberg state government commissioned the departments for spatial planning and building law as well as environmental protection to record original, near-natural and little-developed alpine landscape areas and to secure them in the long term as so-called white zones . In 2015, the Vorarlberg Nature Conservation Council complained in its annual report that the white zones had still not been implemented. In 2016, the two members of the state parliament, Monika Vonier and Christian Gantner (both ÖVP ) declared that a reasonable level had to be found in the implementation of the white zones and should not be overshot. The interests of the landowners, the municipalities, agriculture, forestry and hunting or tourism must be taken into account and only those white areas should be defined in which there is actually a consensus between the various interest groups. On April 13, 2016, the Vorarlberg state parliament passed a resolution that no legally binding designation of white zones should take place without the consent of the municipalities. The complex proceedings that resulted in two publications were therefore discontinued in July 2017 until further notice. The white zones are shown, but this has no further consequences. In October 2017, the two publications on the Weißzone inventory and the 83 description units will be published.

Scope and structure of white areas

So-called landscape chambers are the basis for the individual white zones. These are units given by nature, such as B. valleys . Overall, Vorarlberg was divided into 681 landscape chambers, which have between 0.27 km² and 25.5 km² (average: 3.3 km²). The white zone (= unit of description) is formed by landscape chambers, which in turn consist of one or more core, buffer and development zones:

Core zones include undeveloped or poorly developed landscape chambers with a degree of development of 0 to 20% ;
Buffer zones include undeveloped areas with a minimum size of 2 hectares, which are directly adjacent to the core zone (domestic or foreign), but are themselves in a landscape area with a degree of development of over 20% ;
Development zones correspond to the developed area around infrastructures (400 m corridor) in landscape chambers or valleys with a high landscape value, the degree of development of which is between 20% and 30% .

The white zone inventory consists of 83 so-called description units . Each description unit consists of a description of the area and use:

Location,
Landscape chambers and infrastructures,
Geology, climate, flora and fauna;
current use by agriculture, forestry, hunting, tourism and recreation, water management, torrent and avalanche control, historical mining.

These 83 description units in the white zone inventory only cover a very small part of the Vorarlberg state area (less than 1/3). They are consistently areas that are not or hardly used economically (14% of the white zone area are forest areas, 28% are used for agriculture, more than 50% are alpine wastelands). Due to the ever-increasing lack of refuge areas for large wild animals in Vorarlberg at lower altitudes, they have withdrawn to less developed mountain areas. Therefore, there is also an interest of the hunters in the area of the white zones.

Documentation inventory white zone

The project concluding work: Inventory White Zone was published in two parts as part of the spatial planning series. The first part deals with the background of the project, the method for identifying less developed landscape areas and the summarizing results (77 pages). The second part comprises a description of 83 landscape spaces (white zones) on 689 pages, including the uses already taking place in them.

literature

M. Kopf, A. Marlin: Inventory White Zone. Original and little developed landscape areas in Vorarlberg , presentation in the Environment Committee of the State Parliament on April 6, 2016 in Bregenz.
M. Kopf, A. Marlin, S. Obkircher: Inventory of the white zone Vorarlberg. Investigation of less developed landscape areas , Office of the Vorarlberg State Government, Bregenz 2017 (unpublished).
Landscapes that have been poorly developed, inventory of the Weißzone , spatial planning series, issue 29a, website of the state of Vorarlberg, 40 MB, PDF document.
Less developed landscape areas - 83 description units, spatial planning series, issue 29b, website of the state of Vorarlberg, 600 MB, PDF document.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Hubert Job, Marius Mayer, Peter Haßlacher, Gero Nischik, Christoph Knauf, Marco Pütz, Josef Essl, Andreas Marlin, Manfred Kopf, Stefan Obkircher: Analysis, evaluation and safeguarding of alpine open spaces through spatial planning and spatial planning, academy for spatial research and regional planning, p. 39 ff.
↑ ^a ^b Vorarlberger Naturschutzrat, 2015 annual report, p. 5.
↑ "white zones": Nature should be preserved , ORF.at of 14 September, 2013.
↑ Vorarlberg People's Party: "White zones" with measure and aim , website: vol.at of February 14, 2016.
↑ Michael Prock: Provisional end for white zones , Vorarlberger Nachrichten of September 2, 2017.
↑ Spatial Planning Series, Issues 29a and 29b.

[Job-1] Hubert Job, Marius Mayer, Peter Haßlacher, Gero Nischik, Christoph Knauf, Marco Pütz, Josef Essl, Andreas Marlin, Manfred Kopf, Stefan Obkircher: Analysis, evaluation and safeguarding of alpine open spaces through spatial planning and spatial planning, academy for spatial research and regional planning, p. 39 ff.

[NSchR-2] Vorarlberger Naturschutzrat, 2015 annual report, p. 5.

[3] "white zones": Nature should be preserved , ORF.at of 14 September, 2013.

[4] Vorarlberg People's Party: "White zones" with measure and aim , website: vol.at of February 14, 2016.

[5] Michael Prock: Provisional end for white zones , Vorarlberger Nachrichten of September 2, 2017.

[6] Spatial Planning Series, Issues 29a and 29b.