Project details

Nature Parks and Biosphere Reserves as parts of the National Natural Landscapes (NNL) make up ca. 30% of the German territory. Changes in land use due to the expansion of renewable energies have to be weighed against protected natural resources, such as biodiversity and landscape, especially in NNLs.

The IfLS is working on an R+D research project focussing on the use of renewable energies in NNL on behalf of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with resources from the Federal Ministry for the Environment. Project partners are the department of landscape development/environmental and planning law at the University of Kassel as well as the umbrella associations of the NNLs EUROPARC Deutschland e.V. and the Association of German Nature Reserves. The project aims to 

• work out development perspectives for NNL in the field of conflicting priorities of nature protection and renewable energies, 
• analyse control mechanisms for protected Areas, and eventually 
• conclude transferable recommendations for regulation and/or steering options.

After a survey of the Nature Parks and Biosphere Reserves about their experiences with renewable energies, the main part of the project is about 14 case studies: Here, in dialogue with regional stakeholders, regional management options of interactions with the use of renewable energies that are compatible with the protection of nature are analyzed und reviewed. Subsequent the results of the case studies and of a previously done good-practice-research are linked and evaluated in a two stage process. Besides the use of energy from wind power, biomass and solar radiation, a special focus lies on residual material from the preservation of the countryside and additionally on the expansion of high voltage power lines. In view of the role of the NNL management and existing support programs, successfully implemented integrated models of regional climate strategies are studied in particular.

Conclusively, the gained insights are incorporated in a catalogue of actions.