In North Rhine-Westphalia, a confusing variety of evaluation methods exist for the assessment of interference-related damages to nature and landscape. The overall application is often not transparent, but bureaucratic or complicated and complicates calculations in practice. Now the Forest Centre at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster has developed a flexible and multi-purpose standard procedure for the assessment of interference and compensation.
The method can be applied for the whole of this federal state, since it is suitable for the conservation interference scheme and for a balancing according to building legislation. It was created in the context of a research project funded by the state of NRW and the DBU "Create Sustainability!" (Nachhaltigkeit stiften!). Nationwide, the first time for a habitat assessment method, it was certified by TÜV Saarland. If it is approved by the policy makers, it could lead to reductions in administrative costs in the tens of million Euros alone in NRW.
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