Giessen (dpa/lhe) – The Hessian Environment Minister Priska Hinz (Greens) has warned against cutting back on nature conservation in economically difficult times. “With biological diversity, we protect our livelihood and thus our future,” said Hinz on Tuesday at the state conservation conference in Gießen. “You can’t weigh that against economic growth or security of supply. On the contrary: they are mutually dependent.”
Hesse has achieved a lot in nature and species protection in recent years, said the minister, with a view to designating protected areas, renaturing streams and reviving moors. Achievements are visible and species that are extinct in the country are returning, but much remains to be done.
The focus of the conference with several hundred participants was the presentation of the Center for Biodiversity, which was founded at the beginning of the year and which brings together several authorities and institutions under one roof. These include the nature conservation department of the Hessian State Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG), the Hesse Wolf Center, the State Ornithological Station, the Lore Steubing Institute, the Hesse Nature Conservation Academy and the Wildlife Research Center. The center is located at the HLNUG.
The founding of the center was an important step in strengthening nature conservation, pooling knowledge and better understanding connections, said HLNUG President Thomas Schmid. Numerous animal and plant species in Hesse are threatened with extinction. “If we don’t do something about it, a large part of our native species is in danger of disappearing – irretrievably.” Nature conservation can only succeed together. That is why exchange and networking between authorities and politics, science and volunteers is so important.
