Whether a community is worth living in depends not least on how green and biologically diverse the townscape is. In Pullach, the revised tree protection ordinance is intended to help establish a “sustainable and climate-adapted stock of trees” and preserve the typical garden city character. The new regulation was passed in July 2022 and has now entered into force.
“The drastic climatic changes of the past few years and the associated dying of trees have made it clear to us how important a high-quality and functional tree population is for the existence of humanity as a whole, but also for our personal well-being in Pullach,” says the community . It is all the more important “to now pay special attention to the stock of trees and to deal with this legacy carefully,” says Wolfgang Baumgartner, deputy head of the environmental department in the town hall.
The aim of the amendment to the ordinance is “not to patronize or regulate the citizens, but to make a clear commitment to tree protection”. In concrete terms, this means, for example, that the growth of young trees in particular must no longer be impeded or that species protection is increasingly important – i.e. diseased and dead trees must not necessarily be felled if they still serve as roosts for animals, for example.
The term “native” is omitted from the ordinance, instead emphasis is placed on “climate-adapted” and “site-appropriate” trees. There is also a list of recommendations. The environmental department advises citizens who have to contact the municipality if they wish to fell.