With legs still heavy from winter, a queen bumblebee stalks through the grass on the edge of Prinz Eugen Park in Bogenhausen. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the animal had been brought along specifically. Finally, the initiators of the “Save the Bees” referendum, whose representatives are now all bent over and admiring the bumblebee, have invited people here this morning to take stock of the situation, five years after more than 1.7 million people were imprisoned Town halls in the Free State flocked there and signed for the referendum, the actual name of which was “Biodiversity and Natural Beauty in Bavaria”. In view of this response, the previously critical state government under Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) changed course and called for the referendum to be accepted – which is what happened.
“We have written Bavarian nature conservation history,” says state parliament member Ludwig Hartmann, whose Greens were among the sponsors of the referendum, as were the ÖDP, the State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria (LBV) and the Gregor Louisoder Environmental Foundation (GLUS). Since then, says Hartmann, it has been a matter of “continuing history to be written.” That’s why the sponsoring group wants to use the fifth birthday as an opportunity to take stock, says LBV boss Norbert Schäffer. There are certainly areas in which the state government “still needs to improve” – for example in expanding organic farming and reducing pesticides. However, great progress has been made on other topics such as orchards and waterside strips, says Schäffer. And: by the flowering meadows.
Claus Obermeier, board member of the Gregor Louisoder Environmental Foundation, construction officer Jeanne-Marie Ehbauer, LBV chairman Norbert Schäffer, Ludwig Hartmann (Greens) and Agnes Becker (ÖDP).
(Photo: Robert Haas)
“The image of Bavaria has changed,” emphasizes ÖDP state chairwoman Agnes Becker. Where the robotic lawnmowers used to mow away everything on the side of the road, today you can see more and more wild growth, flowering meadows and therefore “important retreats for the diversity of life”. This is “a symbol of the success story” of the referendum, adds Norbert Schäffer. He emphasizes: “Flowering areas are important even when they are not blooming.” For example, for the queen bumblebee that still crawls through the grass within sight. “She is looking for a mouse hole where she can build her nest,” says the LBV boss. “If the robotic lawnmower were to drive here, then she would have no living space.”
Looking at the flowering meadow in Prinz-Eugen-Park, Claus Obermeier (GLUS) underlines the importance that cities and communities have on this topic. “You have huge scope for design to bring nature back into the area.” The city of Munich is a “leader” here, praises Obermeier – a sentence that construction consultant Jeanne-Marie Ehbauer likes to hear. She points to two successful pilot projects in Schwabing-West and Bogenhausen, in which the green strips along streets were no longer mowed regularly, but only twice a year – in order to create ecologically valuable areas. This measure should now be gradually implemented throughout the city, says Ehbauer. “We’re talking about a total of 490 hectares of roadside greenery.”
Despite all the praise, there is also criticism. Agnes Becker warns that the demand for programs to promote flowering plants in the agricultural landscape has recently waned. And Ludwig Hartmann sees a “huge need to catch up” when it comes to expanding the biotope network called for in the referendum – as well as when it comes to organic food. He is therefore demanding that at the next summer reception of the state parliament, at least 50 percent of the food and drinks served must come from organic farming, says Hartmann. The event will take place on July 18 – one day after the fifth anniversary of the passage of the “Save the Bees” law.