Objectives and principles of nature conservation

The aim of nature conservation in Germany is to protect nature and the landscape on the basis of their intrinsic value and as the basis for human life and health (Section 1 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act). The preservation of our livelihoods is a public task and serves the national objective enshrined in Article 20a of the Basic Law.
Overuse and destruction of nature and the landscape must be avoided and the restoration, preservation and long-term, sustainable use of natural resources must be pursued. Biological diversity, the capacity for regeneration, but also the diversity, individual character and beauty as well as the recreational value of nature and the landscape must be safeguarded.

Depending on whether living organisms are involved in the processes and interactions, a distinction is made between abiotic and biotic components of the ecosystem. Soils, water bodies, climate, air, biotopes and the landscape are considered abiotic. Biotic components of the ecosystem are fauna and flora. There are many interrelationships and interactions between the components, which are examined and studied in more detail in landscape ecology, for example. Individual components of the complex system must be protected so that they can fulfill their function in the long term. Important functions of the ecosystem: It provides us with a settlement area and business location (food, raw materials, processing, transportation), and serves us for recreation and health maintenance. Restricted or lost functions can have serious consequences for people and future generations.

Important objects of nature conservation include natural landscapes, natural monuments, protected areas and landscape features, as well as rare and endangered plants, animals and habitats (biotopes) that occur in certain ecosystems depending on their location. Nature conservation is therefore also concerned with location factors such as soil, climate, air or the effects of noise and other harmful influences on nature and landscape such as light, movement, fragmentation or isolation of habitats. Nature and landscape must be protected in populated and unpopulated areas. In recent decades, nature conservation within settlements and on agricultural land has also become increasingly important.
The Lower Nature Conservation Authority, which is part of the Environment Department of Gera City Council, is responsible for implementing the legal requirements for nature conservation in almost all areas.

Five important arguments for nature conservation

Botanist Otti Wilmanns formulates 5 arguments in favor of nature conservation:

1. Ethical argument: Human activity determines the existence or non-existence of many other species; this gives rise to an obligation and responsibility to respect the right to life of all organisms.
    
2. Theoretical-scientific argument: Many species, their communities (biocenoses) and their function in nature and the landscape are the subject of our quest for knowledge. Many relationships can best be studied in undisturbed habitats. The corresponding research results promise to solve current and future problems of mankind.
    
3. Pragmatic argument: As humans need natural resources for their survival, they must preserve them not only for the present, but also for future generations. For example, wild forms or landraces of cultivated plants should be preserved for resistance breeding. Plants and their ingredients can be of pharmaceutical importance.
    
4. Anthropobiological argument: We need nature for balance and stimulation. The connection to a home landscape is part of every person's sense of identity.
    
5. Historical-cultural argument: Nature conservation often refers to parts of the landscape that have been created through centuries of agricultural use. They are documents of human culture and therefore worth preserving like works of art or monuments.

A particularly impressive example of the multi-layered arguments in favor of nature conservation can be seen in Gera for the "Lasur".

Key legal principles

The main legal principles that apply in Thuringia are as follows:

• Federal Nature Conservation Act
• Thuringian Act on the Implementation of the Federal Nature Conservation Act
• Federal Species Protection Ordinance
• Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive
• EU Birds Directive

Since 2008, numerous tasks of the former State Environmental Agency and the Thuringian State Administration Office have been transferred to the lower nature conservation authority in the independent city of Gera. With the exception of the procedures for the designation of nature and landscape conservation areas and the implementation of the various funding programs in nature conservation and landscape management, almost all enforcement tasks are now carried out by the lower nature conservation authorities.