AfD on the environment and animal welfare

The AfD wants to give priority to maintaining parks and green spaces and to equip the districts better for this task. Every felled tree is to be replaced by a new one, and the city's forests are to be preserved for the long term.

The AfD wants better care for parks and green spaces. The districts should get more money and staff for this. A new tree should be planted for every tree cut down. Berlin's forests should also be kept.

According to the platform, many green spaces are neglected because the parks departments have faced years of budget cuts. The districts are to receive enough money, skilled staff and binding maintenance plans. The AfD wants to enforce the replanting duty more strictly and check it through publicly available tree balances. Forests are to be managed and developed according to the principles of close-to-nature forestry.

The AfD wants to cut land consumption and protect near-natural areas. Green spaces, forests and water areas would no longer be built on, and some paved ground would be opened up again.

The AfD wants less ground to be built over. No building on green spaces, in forests or on water areas. Some paved ground should be opened again. Then rainwater can soak into the soil.

Unused natural land and partly paved sites are to be recorded systematically; some could be built on, others restored to nature. The platform calls for land-saving programs and mandatory unsealing where it makes sense and takes little effort. Private owners are to get incentives, for example for tanks that collect rainwater for flushing toilets or watering gardens. The use of properties is not to be restricted excessively.

The AfD wants stronger protection for drinking water and waterways and a renewal of water infrastructure. This includes modernized treatment, sewage plants with a fourth purification stage and separate sewers for rainwater and wastewater.

The AfD wants to protect Berlin's water better. Sewage plants should remove more harmful substances. Rain and wastewater should flow in separate pipes. Old pipes should be replaced step by step.

Drinking water treatment is to be modernized and supplemented with additional sources, also in view of changing inflows from the Spree river. The extra purification stage is meant to filter out residues of medicines and hormones. Heavy metals, electronic waste and so-called forever chemicals are to be avoided and removed. The plan also covers restoring riverbanks, protecting spring areas and small bodies of water, and planning ahead for drought and heavy rain.

The AfD wants to detect non-native animal and plant species early and contain their populations in order to protect native species. It also wants to strengthen volunteer monitoring of Berlin's urban nature.

Some animals and plants do not come from Berlin. They push out native species. The AfD wants to push these species back. More experts should work on this. Volunteers should also find it easier to count animals and plants.

The platform names the Chinese mitten crab, the red swamp crayfish, the raccoon and the raccoon dog, among others; brown rats are also to be controlled. The AfD wants to reassess the protection status of the hooded crow and reduce its numbers humanely where ecologically necessary. Non-lethal methods are always to be considered. Networks such as BerNA would get support, and volunteers would more easily obtain exemptions and access permits for protected areas.

The AfD wants to upgrade animal welfare as a public responsibility. It calls for a second, state-owned animal shelter, more staff in the veterinary offices and an end to the dog tax.

The AfD wants to do more for animal welfare. Berlin should get a second animal shelter. The offices for animal health should get more staff. The dog tax should be dropped.

The platform describes the existing shelter in Hohenschönhausen as permanently overcrowded and the district veterinary offices as understaffed. The Tierheim Berlin shelter is to receive a state subsidy toward its energy costs. The fight against the illegal puppy trade would be organized centrally instead of across twelve districts. The post of animal welfare commissioner would become an honorary office independent of the Senate.