Carsten Fröhlich

© Carsten Fröhlich / PIXELIO
© Friedrich Frühling / PIXELIO
© sassi / PIXELIO
Nature
conservation
in urban areas
the competition
“Federal Nature
Conservation
Capital”
Nature does not end where built-up areas begin. Rather, nature is
returning to our towns and cities. A little more of the wilderness
is moving into our urban landscapes. Species-rich habitats are
being created, rivers are once again flowing more freely, wild
flowers are flourishing in the strips of grass between roads and
footpaths, parks and woodlands are being allowed to develop
more naturally. Nature conservation is part of the urban identity.
Stadt Bamberg
In 2007 the German Federal
Agency for Nature Conservation
supported the “Federal Nature
Conservation Capital” competition
organised by Deutsche Umwelthilfe
e.V. One hundred and fifteen local
authorities took part, including
large cities such as Berlin,
Hamburg and Munich as well as
many small towns and villages. The
winner was the city of Heidelberg.
Ninety-five towns and villages
were awarded the title of “Nature
Conservation Local Authority” in
recognition of their efforts.
Ariane Meier
This positive trend is being actively
supported and promoted by many
local authorities. Despite the
increasing shortage of public funds,
nature conservation in Germany’s
cities and urban areas is rich and
varied, as local authorities from all
over Germany have recently proved.
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
GRÜN BERLIN Park und Garten GmbH
Stadt Münster
Gertrud Hein
© Dieter Haugk / PIXELIO
Gertrud Hein
Species
conservation
in urban areas
Examples from the
competition “Federal
Nature Conservation
Capital”
Urban areas are made up of a varied mosaic of different
structures and types of land use, which provide a range of
ecological niches. As a result, species diversity in urban areas
is often very high and exceeds that of surrounding areas of
comparable size. The level of species diversity in Berlin makes
the capital city one of the most species-rich areas in Germany.
Many local authorities have specific species conservation
programmes or action plans designed to protect rare or
threatened species or secure and develop biotopes. Local
authorities can often contribute to the protection of individual
species in urban areas by very simple means.
© Templermeister / PIXELIO
Jürgen Gerdes / Stadt Bamberg
For example, the city of
Bamberg has installed nest
supports on old factory
buildings to create an urban
habitat for peregrine falcons
and swifts. In the city of Halle
an der Saale, nest supports
of varying types have been
fitted to redundant electrical
transformer towers, enabling
barn owls and kestrels to move
into the area. Urban areas
often harbour a large number
of sites suitable for species
such as bats and swifts, but
these habitats are frequently
destroyed by renovation or
rebuilding. This is why, when
house facades were renovated
in the town of Güstrow, suitable
openings at roof level were
retained.
Jens Schiller
Eberhard Menz
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
Stadt Halle (Saale)
© terramara / PIXELIO
Pit Zsivanovits
Water in
urban areas
Pit Zsivanovits
Examples from
the competition
“Federal Nature
Conservation Capital”
Streams in urban areas are often channelled through pipes
and scarcely visible. Now new space is being created for many
watercourses. There is new awareness of the value of open
and natural waters – particularly in inner-city areas, where
they provide city dwellers with places to encounter nature and
contribute significantly to the local quality of life.
Open waters provide particular opportunities for experiencing
nature. In built-up areas restoring waters to a more natural
state often requires a great deal of work. But the task is very
rewarding, because near-natural waters add a new quality to
wildlife habitats.
For example, in Soest the area in the
town centre around the source of the
Soest stream had been completely
built over; the stream’s source
was re-exposed and a naturalistic
stream bed was created where the
watercourse had previously been
forced into a channel. In the town of
Wernigerode, 13 weirs were adapted
in order to make the Holtemme
Planungsbüro Stelzig /Soest stream passable for fish such as the
brown trout, which is featured on the
town’s coat of arms.
Rainwater often flows from sealed
surfaces direct into the sewerage.
In its development plans, the city
of Freiburg im Breisgau therefore
specifies that decentral drainage
into the ground should be the norm
for areas of new development.
This enables residents to regain
the experience of water as an
elemental substance.
Jens Schiller
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
Jens Schiller
Stadt Bamberg
Jens Schiller

Stadt Bamberg
Matthias Herbert
Wilderness
in urban areas
Examples from the
competition
“Federal Nature
Conservation Capital”
Urban green spaces can be more than just closely mown areas
of lawn. Amidst the concrete of the city they can provide a piece
of wilderness and a habitat for many plants and animals. Such
areas are important in many ways. They help to regulate the
urban climate, reduce noise and aid water retention. At the same
time they provide convenient leisure space for those who live
nearby.
Stadt Münster
Jens Schiller
Oases of wilderness can develop
in urban areas if land is left
completely unused for long
periods. At the end of the 1990s
Berlin finally awarded conservation
status to a large vacant site in the
middle of the city. On the roughly
18-hectare site of a former railway
shunting yard, dry grassland,
communities of tall herbaceous
perennials and areas of dense
woodland had developed largely
undisturbed over some 40 years.
Stadt Münster
By sowing areas to grass, local
authorities can do much to make green
spaces more natural, often with an
associated reduction in maintenance
needs and costs. For example, the town
of Rastatt has created species-rich
flower meadows on several hectares
of urban land; this area has become an
important haven for wild bees. In the
town of Münster, mixtures of wildflower
and meadow seeds have for some time
been sown along the edges of roads
and tracks, so that the area now has
colourful and species-rich verges that
are adapted to their specific location.
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
GRÜN BERLIN Park und Garten GmbH
GRÜN BERLIN Park und Garten GmbH
GRÜN BERLIN Park und Garten GmbH
Torsten Wilke
Torsten Wilke
Torsten Wilke
Encountering
nature in
urban areas
Examples from the
competition “Federal
Nature Conservation
Capital”
The opportunity to experience and understand the diversity of
nature fosters an attitude by which people treat our environment
with care. Many people encounter nature only within built-up
areas. Particularly for our children, urban areas need to include
places in which people can get as close as possible to nature in
its original form. Towns and districts in Germany are particularly
active in this field.
In Eckernförde, the sealed surface was
removed from a commercial brownfield
site covering 1.6 hectares in the town
and the site was transformed into a
natural play area with a hedge maze,
water play area and climbing facilities.
A quarter of the area has been left free
for natural succession.
Heidelberg has created a milestone
in environmental education with its
Stadt Eckernförde
woodland nature trail, which focuses
on fun and on the opportunity to
experience the forest through the
senses.
Children and young people spend
a large proportion of their time
in educational surroundings.
The town of Prenzlau has taken
account of this in the extensive
renovation and re-designing of
the grounds of a primary school.
A monotonous school yard has
become a varied and interesting
place with opportunities for
play, sport and encounters with
nature. A special feature is that
all the children of the town have
unrestricted access to the grounds
seven days a week.
Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau
Stadt Prenzlau
Torsten Wilke
Gertrud Hein
Gertrud Hein
Biodiversity
in village settings
Cultural landscapes in rural areas host a great diversity of animal
and plant species. These also include old crop varieties and
domesticated animal breeds. If one still knows swallows or bats,
one has in many places no more idea of medicinal plants growing
in the wild (such as the Herzgespann) or old apple varieties (such
as the Gute Marianne).
Gertrud Hein
Gertrud Hein
A richly structured cultural landscape
is the best guarantor of biodiversity
conservation. This in turn depends
upon creative ideas and viable
strategies for the utilisation of such
diversity. Involving local people
plays a key role. Biological diversity
is increasingly being perceived as a
part of regional identity and as a part
of what creates a sense of home.
Bund Heimat und Umwelt (BHU),
the German federation of heritage
conservation associations, is one of
the institutions working to preserve
biological diversity in villages. Its work
last year also received support from
the BfN. Further information on this is
available at: www.bhu.de
Gertrud Hein
Land uses and structures are changing
apace. As a result, such organisms
are increasingly disappearing – often
unnoticed – from village environments.
A lack of knowledge of habitat and
species diversity is amplifying the
impacts of this change upon village
lifeworlds.
Federal Agency
for Nature
Conservation
Gertrud Hein
Gertrud Hein
Gertrud Hein