Moor rescue in the state parliament: dispute over climate protection and forest use broke out

Moor rescue in the state parliament: dispute over climate protection and forest use broke out

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Deutschland - Retzing bogs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: A topic that has been dominating the political agenda for years and is of great importance, especially for climate protection. These wetlands are not only fascinating habitats, but also crucial when it comes to storing carbon and regulating water supplies. According to the Nordkurier there are around 285,000 hectares in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Whereby around 82,000 hectares of a forest bog area can be assigned.

The condition of these bogs is alarming: 63% are moderately to heavily drained and thus weakened ecologically. Duked bogs release climate -damaging gases - according to estimates, 6.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents are emitted annually that are emitted from these areas. These emissions are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the state, such as the state government in its report on Environmental Policy

political challenges and demands

The forest owners are skeptical about the renewal process. They fear legal problems, since re -interlocking could possibly be classified as forest conversion. This means that you would have to obtain permits and make compensations. For this reason, the SPD and the left in the state parliament require a clear legal regulation that stipulates that a professionally planned rewetting is not considered a forest conversion.

The main goal here is to create a legally secure solution for forest owners in order to promote the renaturation of the forest bogs. The SPD parliamentary group also proposes additional incentive options via eco-accounts, ecoploints and moorutures to accelerate the process.

progress and climate goals

Despite the political aspects, progress in the rewetting remains strongly behind the goals presented. The State Audit Office criticizes that only 30% of the goal for re -interlocking was achieved: instead of the targeted 49,000 hectares, only 15,000 hectares were renatured between 2010 and 2020. These results are referred to by the Alliance Greens as a wake -up call and illustrate the challenges that the state government faces.

The demand for progress is all the more urgent, Considerando The climate neutrality goals of the state government until 2040.

The role of the federal government

The criticism and the challenges in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are part of a major initiative, which will be promoted by the Bundesk Climate Protection Act and the national moor protection strategy, which was adopted in 2022. Nationwide, the aim is to reduce emissions from Mogorbodes by five million tons of CO2 equivalents annually by 2030, with the rewetting a key measure. According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture make mossodes out of the agricultural area in Germany and are responsible for approx. 7.5% of the German greenhouse gas emissions.

For the implementation of these measures, a support requirement of around 300 million euros per year is estimated. Creative approaches are asked how the bonification by moor value papers or the promotion of paludic culture, in which wet moor areas are used for agriculture. The path to renaturation is long, but the importance of the bog for climate protection cannot be assessed highly enough. Time is pushing, and it remains exciting which solutions the state government will ultimately present in order to advance climate protection and to protect the interests of forest owners.