Conservation Advisory Board
The Conservation Council is in Germany an advisory committee of volunteer expert citizens to support the conservation authority in accordance with the individual provincial nature conservation laws . The Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) does not contain any regulations on this, but the recognized nature conservation associations (cf. § 63 BNatSchG, initially also § 29, until 2010 § 59 ff.) Often play a special role,
A nature conservation advisory board exists at various levels of the nature conservation administration, depending on state law. The binding nature of the regulations that advisory boards are to be appointed moves from an optional to a mandatory provision. According to Section 45 of the SächsNatSchG (as of October 19, 2010), an advisory board is mandatory for the highest nature conservation authority, but only optional for the upper and lower nature conservation authorities. As a rule, the laws authorize the highest nature conservation authorities to regulate further details by ordinance.
In some cases, more than 20 members are appointed, usually for the electoral periods given by state law (4–5 years) by the respective top management and also confirmed by the responsible supervisory body ( district council or city council , state parliament ).
The independence of the advisory councils also differs depending on the national law and ranges from almost complete autonomy to regulations to the contrary elsewhere. B. the head of the authority to which the advisory board is assigned chairs.
Members are nominated
- on the one hand through associations such as nature conservation organizations , hunting associations or farmers' associations .
- on the other hand by the competent authorities, above all the nature conservation authorities of the districts and urban districts. It is a good idea to consult competent organizations here too. It is legally disputed whether nominations influenced by party politics (e.g. by the parliamentary groups in the district assembly) are also in conformity with the law due to the primacy of competence (see following paragraph).
The selection is made according to national law
- Belonging to various groups (representative primacy) and / or
- the existence of technical and local knowledge (primacy of competence) that the persons concerned should demonstrably have, whereby they are not subject to any instructions from third parties. Regardless of country-specific regulations, it has proven itself in practice that this knowledge includes the subject areas of nature conservation , landscape management , biology , vegetation science , geology as well as agriculture and forestry .
The more important decision-making objects of the nature conservation authority are presented to the nature conservation advisory board and presented for advice, usually at least planning at all levels (including land-use planning , plan approval procedures ). The individual state laws as well as the authority of the advisory councils to nominate agents (appointment see above) regulate further details. The advisory board can give decision recommendations to the authority. He can also stimulate the agency's activities. How far the powers of the advisory board or the commissioner and the binding nature of its votes go also depends on the nature conservation law of the respective federal state.
The Thuringian Nature Conservation Act also provides for its own advisory board for species and biotope protection .
As administrative bodies, the nature conservation advisory boards are obliged to maintain secrecy, especially since property rights interests are often affected and planning is discussed at an early stage.
Regulations in the federal states
- Bavaria
- Brandenburg
- Bremen
- Hesse
- North Rhine-Westphalia , § 70 State Nature Conservation Act
- Rhineland-Palatinate
See also
Landscape Advisory Board (former name for the nature conservation advisory board in North Rhine-Westphalia)