AfD on the environment and animal welfare

The AfD wants to keep using Saarland's forests for forestry and adapt them to changing climate conditions. Wood infested by bark beetles should be removed quickly and damaged areas replanted with mixed stands.

The AfD wants to keep using the forest for wood. The forest should not become a wilderness. Damaged wood should be taken out quickly. New trees should grow on bare areas. Different kinds of trees should be mixed.

The platform calls Saarland a cultivated landscape and rejects a return to conditions resembling primeval forest. The forest should supply timber, firewood, berries, and mushrooms while also securing groundwater, air quality, and recreation. The AfD calls for stable, productive, climate-suited tree species and for reforestation programs that prefer mixed stands over monocultures. A coordinated plan should draw on experience from other European regions. Regional tree nurseries and regional seed should get priority where science considers it feasible.

The AfD wants to keep existing hunting law largely unchanged and remove no further species from it. The wolf should be added to hunting law so that its population can be regulated.

The AfD wants to keep hunting law as it is. The wolf should be added to hunting law. Hunters could then limit the number of wolves. Wolf packs should get certain areas. In part of the forest, game should be able to feed in peace.

The party commits to the traditional ethical rules of hunting and sees no need for fundamental changes. Under the motto "forest with game," five percent of forest area should become hunting-free feeding areas to reduce browsing damage and support biodiversity. For the wolf, the platform expects conflicts with people because of dense settlement and intensive land use. It criticizes that the federal and state governments do not put a number on the favorable conservation status. Wolf packs should be assigned fixed habitats, following the example of Norway or Sweden.

The AfD wants to strengthen biodiversity, including through regular monitoring of species in Saarland and EU-wide protection for migratory birds. Herbicides should largely be avoided on state-owned land to protect insects.

The AfD wants to protect animals and plants better. Experts should regularly count the species in Saarland. Migratory birds should be protected across the EU. The state should use almost no weed killer on its land. This is meant to help insects.

The platform calls for comprehensive monitoring of species. The federal and state governments should push for bird protection across the entire EU and use the next conference of parties to the convention on migratory species for this, since migratory birds are said to be caught with illegal methods in several southern European countries. The AfD names wind turbines as a danger to birds and bats. Insect decline should be studied scientifically. Leases for state land should, where possible, include a ban on herbicides and pesticides; the party views gravel gardens critically.

The AfD wants a scientific review of the limits for nitrogen compounds and revised rules for how they are measured. It argues that air quality has improved considerably over recent decades, so policy should proceed with moderation. It rejects any ban on fireworks justified by pollution control.

The AfD wants experts to check the limits for nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides are exhaust gases, for example from cars. The rules for measuring should also change. The AfD says the air has already become much cleaner. The AfD does not want to ban fireworks.

An independent expert commission is to examine the nitrogen dioxide limits that have applied in German cities since 2005. Measuring stations should be placed according to the applicable guidelines and not too close to intersections, obstacles, or the edge of the road. In principle the AfD wants to protect people, animals, and plants from harmful emissions, but it considers a moderate approach appropriate. It regards New Year's fireworks as a deeply rooted custom that should be preserved.

The AfD wants to put waste management more firmly in municipal hands because, in its view, growing monopolies in the sector have driven up costs. In the medium to long term it aims for a circular economy in which raw materials are used as long as possible. It rejects the planned amendment to the Circular Economy Act in its current form.

The AfD wants towns and cities to handle more of the trash themselves. It says a few big companies make waste disposal expensive. Raw materials should be used for as long as possible. The AfD is open to a deposit on batteries and electrical devices.

In handling waste, prevention is to come first, followed by reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and finally disposal. The AfD is open to a deposit on batteries and electrical devices to raise collection rates, and it wants to increase the use of secondary raw materials. It rejects the federal plan for voluntary take-back of waste by manufacturers and retailers. It fears municipalities would be left with only the loss-making waste and residents would have to pay higher fees.

The AfD wants to reduce the production and consumption of plastics wherever that is economically and technically feasible. It rejects the planned ban on certain plastic bags and demands a long transition period for artificial turf fields filled with plastic granules. It wants to ban exports of plastic waste to countries without adequate disposal systems.

The AfD wants less plastic where that is easily possible. It is against a ban on plastic bags. It says paper bags are worse for the environment. Sports fields with artificial turf should stay in use for a long time. Plastic waste should no longer go to countries without good disposal.

The program names cosmetics as an example of replaceable plastics, while it considers plastics indispensable in medicine and safety technology. The AfD rejects the ban on carrier bags with a wall thickness of 15 to 50 micrometers because paper bags need more energy and water to produce. For the EU's planned granule ban, the transition period should follow the lifespan of the turf fields; otherwise the federal and state governments should pay for conversion to cork or sand. On tire abrasion, the AfD relies on new developments by manufacturers. Emerging and developing countries are to receive support in disposing of plastic waste.

The AfD rejects privatizing municipal water supply and wastewater disposal and wants to strengthen municipal water management as an essential public service. It considers a stricter nitrate limit unnecessary. Municipalities are to get help developing plans against heavy rain and drought.

The AfD wants water and wastewater to stay a job for towns and cities. Private companies should not take it over. The limit for nitrate in water should not get stricter. Nitrate is a substance that comes from fertilizer, for example. Towns should get help against heavy rain and drought.

According to the program, the limit of 50 milligrams of nitrate per liter of drinking water is met everywhere in Saarland. The AfD calls for a scientifically sound survey of nitrate levels in the state in which individual point sources must not stand for pollution across whole areas. It names extreme weather as the biggest challenge. Drinking water supply should adapt to less summer rain, for example through storage above or below ground and deeper wells.