It was a long debate in the district council of the Middle Franconian district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen. But it happened as it had previously appeared: the region will not take part in the bird protection project “Chance.natur – Middle Franconian Altmühl Valley Habitat”. The district council, led by District Administrator Manuel Westphal (CSU), decided this on Monday. Although the vote ended in a stalemate, the application for the project was rejected.
The State Association for Bird Protection (LBV), which had been supporting the project for three years, reacted with disappointment. “The district council has thus missed a unique opportunity to protect meadow breeders that are threatened with extinction and to promote agriculture,” said LBV boss Norbert Schäffer. He accused District Administrator Westphal of having “created sentiment against the project for months.”
The project was intended to take care of the few remaining curlews, lapwings and other meadow breeders in the Altmühltal between Colmberg in the Ansbach district and Treuchtlingen in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district. Meadow breeders are among the most threatened bird species in Bavaria. The Altmühltal is one of the few areas in which larger populations of meadow breeding birds occur.
However, the farmers in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district fear disadvantages from the project – for example in the rewetting of meadows or their subsequent mowing. That’s why they reject Chance.natur, even though ten million euros in funding would have flowed into the region. It’s different in the Ansbach district: there are no protests there. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, which is responsible for Chance.Natur, said the project will now be implemented there on a smaller area.