The Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the Naturstiftung David jointly invited to the annual Summer Academy of St. Marienthal/Ostritz with the this year's theme "The National Natural Heritage in practice - Impulses, challenges and prospects”.
This National Natural Heritage was transferred from the ownership of the Federal Republic of Germany to the sponsorship of the provinces, various conservation groups and the DBU to permanently secure it for conservation. How this unique opportunity can be used in the best way for local nature conservation, discussed among others representatives from politics and science, members of conservation organizations and foundations, as also foresters and hunters.
It turned out that the land owners pursue quite different objectives of nature conservation. For the National Natural Heritage adopted by the DBU Naturerbe GmbH - 33 spacious properties with a total area of around 46,000 hectares – the following goals depend on the individual area:
An instrument to be used for the control of a successful land use management in view of the desired conservation goals is the monitoring, that means the systematic, repeated recording of certain parameters such as vegetation, forest structure, insects, birds and wildlife, but also physical properties of soils, air quality and landscape structure. Simultaneously, the National Natural Heritage was also perceived as a cultural challenge and opportunity, as a way to inspire people for the beauty of nature and thus to communicate the value of nature. In addition to programs for visitors, in particular the local citizens are to be involved, for whom the National Natural Heritage is part of their homeland.
Another issue was the financing of these measures, for example, through a funding of the European Union (EU Life +) or the national funding to implement the National Strategy on Biological Diversity, but also through the involvement of the business sector in the form of sponsorship. According to DBU Secretary General Dr. Fritz Brickwedde, the future preservation of the National Natural Heritage should continue under an umbrella organization supported by a broad segment of the population similar to the English National Trust, which is funded by donations and thus preserves both cultural-historical and natural monuments for everyone and forever. Therefore, the DBU will in future increasingly link activities and actors of the National Natural Heritage in order to get a successful and strong network.
