Species protection in Stuttgart

To counteract the loss of biodiversity, the state capital of Stuttgart has developed the biodiversity protection concept. In its wealth of detail, it is the first of its kind in all of Germany.

But how do you protect and preserve biodiversity? One main approach is to protect the species’ habitat, because without it, the animals and plants have no place to go either. As a first pilot area, the city has designated so-called Top-E areas, where habitats of target species are enhanced through targeted measures. In addition to the improvement of these initial habitats, nature conservation-oriented maintenance is to be introduced on other areas under the expert supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency.

With the species protection concept, however, we not only want to protect animals and plants, but also reach out to the population and inspire them for nature conservation.

In general, areas are used too intensively, for example by mowing and fertilizing too frequently, or are overbuilt. The intensification of agriculture, the loss of temporarily fallow structures and the lack of green strips are also putting massive pressure on the environment. Climate change, with very hot summers and lack of frost in winter, often puts additional pressure on adapted species.

Against the background of these many threats, the protection of native flora and fauna is increasingly important. The absence of individual species and groups of species can have a negative impact on other species or entire ecosystems. The decline of insects, for example, affects the populations of many birds, whose food base is now lacking. In Stuttgart, too, some animal and plant species that used to occur quite naturally in the urban area have unfortunately already become extinct.

This is not always immediately noticeable: Of the approximately 270 known wild bee species, at least 58 are now considered extinct or lost. Other insects, such as the small heath grasshopper or species that were considered very common not so long ago, such as the tree frog, have lost their habitat in Stuttgart. The direct and indirect effects are only slowly becoming visible. Often, in fact, only after the damage has already been done. Therefore, species conservation is a topic whose importance and urgency cannot be emphasized often enough.

The Federal Nature Conservation Act places some animal and plant species under additional protection. These selected species are considered rare and particularly worthy of protection because they perform the function of an umbrella species. This means that they make special demands on their habitat.

By protecting them, a large number of other species with comparable requirements are also protected. The lynx beetle, for example, inhabits cavities in old trees, which have now become very rare. By preserving these trees, a variety of other endangered inhabitants of old and dead wood can be protected.

This additional protection is particularly relevant in projects such as construction or renovation, where the habitat of these protected species may be damaged or destroyed. In order to implement these projects, early compensatory measures must first be coordinated with the nature conservation authorities and implemented.