Ancient beeches that tower 40 meters into the sky like the mighty pillars of a cathedral, quiet meadow valleys through which natural streams meander, and ravine forests whose slopes are so steep that forestry there is not worthwhile. There are also rare species such as the black woodpecker, the wildcat and the Bechstein’s bat. This is the Steigerwald, a quiet forest area with gentle mountain ranges in the Drei-Franken-Eck on the route between Nuremberg and Würzburg.
For almost exactly 15 years there have been calls for Bavaria’s third national park to be set up in the region. So far they have always failed due to the veto of the CSU and Free Voters (FW). Now an alliance of several associations and organizations is starting a new attempt. It refers to a recent survey, according to which almost three quarters of those eligible to vote in Bavaria want a national park in the Steigerwald.
The representative survey dates from June and was carried out by the opinion research institute Kantar Public. In it, 73 percent of those questioned spoke out in favor of a national park in the Steigerwald. Among the supporters of the CSU, it was even three percentage points more at 76 percent. This is a clear plus compared to previous surveys. In 2018, 64 percent of those surveyed advocated a national park in the Steigerwald, while 67 percent of CSU supporters at the time. In the current survey, there is also immense approval for the designation of further natural forests in the Free State, in which forestry does not take place, as in national parks. According to Kantar Public, 88 percent of those questioned would be right if more natural forests were set up across Bavaria, and among CSU supporters the figure is even 91 percent.
The CSU should become the “National Park Party” again, demands BN boss Richard Mergner
The National Park Alliance is also calling on the CSU and FW to give up their previous blockade attitude. “Our survey should be an opportunity for the CSU to change from a national park prevention party to the national park party it was 40 years ago with the founding of the two national parks in the Bavarian Forest and in Berchtesgaden,” says the federal chairman Nature Conservation (BN), Richard Mergner. “Even the CSU wins with a national park in the Steigerwald, Bavaria and Franconia anyway.”
Helmut Beran from the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV) emphasizes the outstanding importance that the old beech forests in the Steigerwald have for nature conservation in Bavaria. Liebhard Löffler from the Steigerwald National Park association points out that a large nature reserve could now also count on broad support in the region. “In the last survey in 2020, the approval ratings in the Steigerwald were 75 percent,” says Löffler, “that was as much back then as it is now in all of Bavaria.”
The initiative is unlikely to be well received by the CSU and Free Voters, at least for the time being. Prime Minister Markus Söder and Forest Minister Michaela Kaniber recently concluded a new forest pact with several associations of forest owners and farmers. In it, both had acknowledged their demand not to expand nature conservation in Bavaria’s forests and instead to rely on their sustainable management. In particular, they rejected the so-called decommissioning. Foresters understand this to mean giving up the management of forests and – like in a national park – leaving them to themselves and to develop naturally. It is also known that Free Voters boss Hubert Aiwanger does not support the decommissioning of forests.