Fire salamander larvae are counted

The Bund Naturschutz in Bayern e. V. (BN) draws a positive annual balance for Lower Franconia for 2021, according to a press release from the Bund Naturschutz.

A flagship is the variety of innovative projects with which the Lower Franconian BN district groups are committed to more nature and environmental protection. For example, the Bad Kissingen district group offered online cooking courses on local legumes as an alternative to meat and soy.

In the area of ​​species protection, the BN also works closely with partners such as the farmers’ association in the Rhn, for example. The Biogas-Blhfelder-Project was awarded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, among others. A project for cross-linking to the Green Belt is under construction.

To protect the endangered fire salamander, the BN, together with the State Association for the Protection of Birds (LBV) and the State Association for the Protection of Amphibians and Reptiles (LARS), launched a joint species protection program which is being funded by the state government with 1.7 million euros.

Fungus endangers tailed amphibians

Fire salamanders are threatened by a spreading non-native fungus (Bsal). In Lower Franconia, the larvae of the fire salamander are counted in the known spawning areas in the Spessart and in the Rhn in order to get an overview of the status quo and to identify population collapses at an early stage. There are eight priority areas throughout Bavaria.

A particular success last year was the signing of the orchard pact. The BN state representative Martin Geilhufe: “A great success, in which the BN was significantly involved. The ambitious goal must now be to implement the pact adequately. In doing so, we are also dependent on the help of farmers, private orchard owners and the municipalities .”

orchard pact

In this context, the BN welcomes the establishment of six project offices in Lower Franconia to implement the orchard pact. This is an important support also for all “orchard farmers”. Numerous district and local groups of the BN are already tending and preserving valuable meadow orchards in Lower Franconia and replanting trees, it is said.

In 2022, the BN will continue its work in Lower Franconia in the usual way and, as a “green conscience”, critically monitor natural interventions. This includes, for example, action against the construction of the B 26n by the districts of Main-Spessart and Wrzburg, the expansion of the B 469 near Aschaffenburg, the expansion of the B 286 between Schweinfurt and Kitzingen and the construction of the Sulzfeld bypass in the Rhn-Grabfeld district and bei Giebelstadt in the district of Würzburg. In order to achieve more climate protection and less car traffic, the BN is also committed to the reactivation of railway lines, such as the Steigerwaldbahn from Schweinfurt to Kitzingen.

“But we will continue to fight against the unnecessary ‘electricity highways’ such as the Sdlink and the Fulda-Main line and will advocate a decentralized energy transition,” said Steffen Jodl, BN regional officer for Lower Franconia.

“The BN was able to increase the number of members throughout Bavaria by around 7,000 to a peak of around 260,000 members and sponsors,” says BN state chairman Richard Mergner. In Lower Franconia there was an increase of around 580 people to 25,403 members.

–