Managing human intervention in nature and landscape
Rules of intervention under nature conservation law
Legal framework
Approval practices in the extraction of natural resources
If a company plans to intervene in nature and land- scape by extracting natural resources, the rules of intervention under nature conservation law are exam- ined at the level of the responsible approval authority. Depending on the respective type of natural resource, these are either the mining authorities of the German Federal States (in the case of free-to-mine and privately-owned natural resources) or the Federal State authorities responsible for the execution of the State-based excavation laws, the building and water resources management laws and the Federal Immis- sion Control Act (in the case of so-called landowners’ natural resources). This procedure corresponds to the “piggyback procedure”. The rules of intervention are always examined within the framework of the notification and approval procedure under the specific legislation, without separate administration proceed- ings. The nature conservation authorities must be involved and they will give their opinion as nature conservation experts. The responsible approval authority then grants the authorisation taking account of the opinion in “consultation” with the responsible nature conservation authorities (§ 17 (1) BNatSchG). The responsible approval authority, which makes the decision on the legal consequences of the intervention, is not bound by the recommendation of the nature conservation authorities. It is allowed to differ from these on objective grounds. However, it is com- pulsory to comply with the provisions of the specific species protection independently of the rules of intervention Designations of protected areas must also be observed.
Documentation of compensatory measures for interventions in nature
Overview of compensation directories in the Federal States
Federal State | Publicly visible | Central for the federal state | Comprehensive information on the intervention area and type of compensation | Weblink | Information on Replacement Payments |
Baden-Württemberg | Yes | no | Yes | https://www.lubw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/natur-und-landschaft/kompensationsverzeichnis | A list of compensation payments can be requested from the Nature Conservation Fund Foundation. |
Bavaria | Yes | Yes | Yes | https://www.lfu.bayern.de/natur/oefka_oeko/index.htm | Lists of replacement payments can be requested at county government level. |
Berlin | Yes | Yes | no | http://fbinter.stadt-berlin.de/fb/index.jsp | Lists of replacement payments can be requested at the county level. |
Brandenburg | no | Yes | no | Under construction | A list of replacement payments can be requested from the Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing. |
Bremen | Yes | Yes | Yes | https://www.bauumwelt.bremen.de/umwelt/natur/gis_dienste___geodaten-48536 | A list of replacement payments can be requested from the Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing. |
Hamburg | Yes | Yes | Yes | https://geoportal-hamburg.de/geoportal/geo-online | The total amount of the compensation payments can be viewed publicly via the annual balance sheet of the special fund for nature conservation. |
Hessen | Yes | Yes | Yes | https://www.kompensationsflaechen-mv.de/wiki/index.php/Homepage https://www.kompensationsflaechen-mv.de/wiki/index.php/Homepage | Replacement payments are not publicly visible. |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Yes | Yes | Yes | https://www.kompensationsflaechen-mv.de/wiki/index.php/Homepage https://www.kompensationsflaechen-mv.de/wiki/index.php/Homepage | Replacement payments are not publicly visible. |
Lower Saxony | Partially | no | Partly (see example district of Cuxhaven) | https://cuxland-gis.landkreis-cuxhaven.de/internet/kompensationsflaechen | Replacement payments are not publicly visible. |
Nordrhein-Westfalen | Planned | no | Yes | e.g. B. https://www.duesseldorf.de/stadtgruen/landschafts-und-naturschutz/eingriffsregel/ersatzgeld.html https://cuxland-gis.landkreis-cuxhaven.de/internet/kompensationsflaechen | The list of replacement money is published on the Internet. Information (also on the use of the replacement payments) can be found on the website of the responsible districts and urban districts. |
Rhineland-Palatinate | Yes | Yes | Yes | http://www.naturschutz.rlp.de/?q=kartendienst | A list of compensation payments can be requested from the Nature and Environment Foundation. |
Saarland | no | no | no | - | Eco-account measures can be viewed via the Saarland Geoportal (www.geoportal.saarland.de). |
Saxony | no | Yes | no | https://www.umwelt.sachsen.de/umwelt/natur/15205 | Lists of replacement payments can be requested at county government level. |
Sachsen-Anhalt | Partly (eco accounts: yes, compensation register: no) | Yes | no | http://ekis.geolock.de/ | Replacement payments are not publicly visible. |
Schleswig-Holstein | Yes | no | no | http://www.lksh.de/forst/oekokonto/ | A list of replacement payments can be requested from the Ministry for Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitization. |
Thuringia | no | Yes | Yes | Compensation payments are to be made to the Thuringia Nature Conservation Foundation (SNT). The corresponding overview lists are not publicly accessible. So far there have been no compensation payments from mining projects. |
Source: own presentation, as of: September 2021
Example of the transparency of compensation directories in Baden-Wuerttemberg
- description of the approval authority and the compensatory measure (short description),
- file number and date of the approval certificate,
- type of project causing the intervention,
- project developer,
- location of the compensation area,
- measures for the timely implementation of the compensatory measure and the fixed period of maintenance,
- state of the implementation.
The following information on eco-account measures can also be accessed:
- complex of measures,
- status,
- natural area,
- location of the measure,
- eco-points.
Example of the assessment of compensatory payments in North-Rhine-Westphalia 4
Cooperation between stakeholders
Provisions
Implementation securities
1 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) (2020): Germany – Natural Resources Situation 2019. (Deutschland – Rohstoffsituation 2019) URL: https://www.bgr.bund.de/DE/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Downloads/rohsit-2019.pdf;jsessionid=DCB2CC38DD5BC60 (Accessed on 1 December 2021).
2 The conversion keys are published here: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (2021): URL: https://www.bfn.de/themen/planung/eingriffe/eingriffsregelung.html (Accessed on 25 November 2021).
3 Currently Baden-Wuerttemberg (§ 15 (5) sentence 3 NatSchG BW) and Bavaria (Art. 8 (3) sentence 2 BayNatSchG) made use of this
4 The procedure described applies on a nationwide basis.