The "green belt" nature conservation project continues to make good progress in its implementation. As project manager stefan bayer reported at the meeting of the project working group on tuesday, additional land has been purchased in recent months.
On the bavarian side, the project involves 21 field sites with a total of about 15 hectares in the counties of coburg and kronach. The purchase is being sought for 14 further plots with a total of around five hectares.
On the thuringian side, 42 plots of land with a total area of more than 20 hectares were purchased in the participating counties of hildburghausen and sonneberg. Ten more are to follow, covering a total of just under 3.9 hectares.
"It's sometimes difficult to determine the owner of a flat," explained stefan beyer, stefan beyer explained why the purchase of land cannot always be handled as smoothly as those responsible would like. For the mediation talks, the special purpose association has obtained support. From october 2016 to march 2017, employees of the thuringer landgesellschaft spent 450 working hours in the counties of sonneberg and hildburghausen. On the bavarian side, sweco gmbh from meinigen supported the negotiations with landowners and tenants of the areas in question. All in all, around 950000 euros were spent last year on implementing the plans for the nature conservation coarse project. In the current year a completion of about the same amount is expected.
Much acquired
What the money was used for in the area of acquisitions was reported by janine ilge from the project team. One of the many gross individual inspections was the fencing system in bischofsau, which was erected for the grazing of heck cattle and konik horses. Around 10.5 kilometers of fencing were needed. As district administrator michael busch discovered during a field trip by the association, the fence does not always carry enough electricity to have an effect on the animals. He attributes it to vegetation that touches the wires. Consideration is being given to how to remedy the situation.
Barrel trucks for drinking the animals, a cart to move grazing animals safely over roads from one pasture to the next, as well as a lot of electric fence nets, fencing rates and batteries are also part of the purchases. According to janine ilge, there are plans for more barrel trolleys. Shelters for the animals on some pastures will be built and currently the delivery of a frost-proof pasture pump for cattle and horses is expected. It will also be used to provide enough water for drinking.