CDU on the environment and animal welfare

The CDU wants to do more to revive contaminated industrial brownfields so they become commercial sites or residential areas. It plans to push for a federal funding program and create an advisory body for municipalities.

The Saarland has many old industrial sites with polluted soil. The CDU wants to clean these sites and use them again. The federal government should pay for this. A new office will advise the towns.

The platform points out that developing contaminated sites often overwhelms municipalities financially and technically. The CDU regards land recycling and cleanup as a contribution to environmental protection that also curbs land use on the outskirts. Where cleanup costs exceed later proceeds, the funding gap is to be covered. A new body is to advise municipalities and project sponsors on technical matters and on funding options.

The CDU wants to keep negotiating with the federal government to reduce the burden on residents from the noise of military training flights over Saarland. It stands by the existing time restrictions on military aircraft.

Military planes practice over Saarland. This makes a lot of noise. The CDU wants to talk to the federal government about it. There should be less noise. Flights should stay limited in the evening and on holidays.

The platform accepts training flights as part of national and alliance defense but sees aircraft noise as a burden. It says a roughly even distribution of flights across Germany's training airspaces has already been achieved, and the CDU wants to build on that. The restrictions apply in the evening, on Friday afternoons, and on Sundays and public holidays.

The CDU wants an open dialogue between those who use nature and those who protect it. It seeks a fair balance among agriculture, hunting, forest ownership and conservation groups, invoking the Christian idea of creation.

Some people use nature, others want to protect it. The CDU wants both sides to talk to each other. Farmers, hunters, forest owners and conservationists should be treated fairly.

The platform notes that views often differ widely on how the cultivated landscape may be used for business, leisure and other purposes. The CDU therefore wants a constructive conversation among those involved. It describes itself as a party committed to the Christian idea of creation and derives its support for sustainability from that.

The CDU wants to build up the UNESCO Bliesgau biosphere reserve as a showcase region. Costs for the participating municipalities are to be capped so that, in the platform's view, the partnership model is not put at risk.

The Bliesgau is a protected area recognized by UNESCO. The CDU wants to strengthen this area. The towns there should not have to pay more and more. There should also be an information center.

UNESCO requires every biosphere reserve to have at least one information center staffed year-round by full-time employees. The Bliesgau does not yet have such a "Biosphärenhaus." The CDU wants to find a solution for setting it up and running it permanently without adding costs for municipalities. The center is to be operating by the time of the next UNESCO review.

The CDU wants to continue close-to-nature management of state forests and align it more strongly with forest stability and resilience. Forests are to be strengthened as carbon stores, and forest owners are to be paid for this through certificates.

The forest suffers from heat, drought and beetles. The CDU wants to manage the state's forest gently. Heavy machines should be used less. The forest should store a lot of CO2. Forest owners should get money for that.

As a first step, the CDU wants less timber harvested with heavy machinery in deciduous and mixed state forests and wants to promote methods that are gentle on soil and trees. At federal level it will push for certificate payments for the carbon stored by forests. Destroyed areas are to be reforested with stable, climate-adapted stands, which also guides the choice of tree species. The protection of historic old forest sites in place since 2019 is to remain. Environmental education in early childhood is also to be expanded.

The CDU wants to expand insect monitoring and support wildflower projects with funding programs. It also affirms hunting and fishing as part of nature conservation and wants to make it legally easier to hunt foxes and corvids.

Insects matter for plants and soil. The CDU wants to protect them better. Towns should plant flowers, trees and shrubs on unused land. Hunters should find it easier to hunt foxes and crows. This should help hares and partridges.

The insect monitoring started by the state government is to be continually broadened and updated. Wildflower projects run by districts, municipalities, private actors, the state development company and district hunting associations are to receive funding and may include educational work. Unused municipal land is generally to be planted. In the CDU's view, wildflower areas only help species such as the brown hare and the partridge if their predators can be hunted more. It therefore wants to simplify predator management, meaning the control of predator populations.

The CDU wants to protect Saarland's groundwater and keep the water supply in public hands. It rejects privatization; water is to be available to everyone at a stable, affordable price.

Drinking water in Saarland comes almost entirely from groundwater. The CDU wants to protect it. Private companies should not take over the water supply. Water should stay affordable for all. More people should drink tap water.

Groundwater in former mining areas must not deteriorate; if mines are legally flooded up to 320 meters, the CDU wants drinking water wells to face no risk. Additional monitoring stations are to track groundwater quality. A campaign is to substantially increase tap water use in daycare centers, schools, cafeterias and public facilities to avoid plastic waste. Drinking water taps in public squares are a possibility.

The CDU wants every municipality in Saarland to develop and implement a preparedness plan for floods and heavy rain. The state is to help pay for the measures where possible.

Heavy rain and floods can destroy a lot. The CDU wants every town to have a plan against them. The state should help with money if it can. Maps should show where the danger is high.

Danger zones for heavy rain are to be mapped. The maps are to be shared with the responsible authorities and aid organizations so they can respond in an emergency. The CDU describes flood protection as a shared responsibility.

The CDU wants to define poor animal keeping in regulatory law so that it can be penalized. It also aims, together with counties and municipalities, for mandatory tagging and neutering of cats, and wants to temporarily waive the dog tax for people who adopt a dog from a shelter.

The CDU wants to protect animals better. Keeping animals badly should be punishable. Cats that live or roam outside should be tagged and neutered. People who take a dog from a shelter should pay no dog tax for two years.

The platform notes that so far only cruel mistreatment and unjustified killing are criminal offenses. It therefore wants the term "poor animal keeping" defined in regulatory law. For the cat requirement, the CDU wants to involve the Tierschutzstiftung Saar (Saarland animal welfare foundation) and provide additional state money. The dog tax would be waived for two years if a dog comes from a shelter or was placed by an animal welfare association; municipalities would receive state funds to cover this.