CDU on the environment and animal welfare

The CDU wants to fund the conversion of forests to climate-adapted mixed stands and relies on active management and the use of timber. No tax money should go toward deliberately setting forest areas aside. Small private forest owners are to get special support.

Heat and pests are harming the forest. The CDU wants to plant other trees that cope better. The forest should still be used, for example for wood. Owners of small forests should get help.

Funding is to go to forest conversion, forest owner cooperatives, forest roads, stand maintenance and fire protection, mainly for private owners. Forestry associations should get permanently staffed offices and reliable professional support. The CDU expects Harz National Park to present yearly monitoring of wildfires and bark beetles that also covers deadwood, water points for firefighting and the state of forest roads. Ecosystem services of forests are to be rewarded more and defined together with the Northwest German Forest Research Institute. The state is to be further established as a bioeconomy location, with Leuna as its hub.

The CDU wants rules that allow the wolf population to be regulated, citing the safety of people and grazing animals. Compensation for damage caused by protected animals is to be extended from wolves to other species such as beavers and rooks.

The CDU wants to limit the number of wolves. It says this protects people and grazing animals. Farmers get money today when wolves cause damage. This should also apply to damage from beavers and rooks.

The program treats hunting as a property right and as important for stable forests. Hunting cooperatives are to receive the data from the state that they need to run a hunting register. Counties and independent cities are to coordinate and start the assessment of damage caused by protected species. According to the program, species protection and farming and forestry should not be set against each other.

The CDU wants the EU Nature Restoration Regulation repealed in full. It should be replaced by a new set of rules that the party considers practical, fair and backed by funding. The CDU rejects new protected areas on land used for farming or forestry.

The EU has a law to restore nature. The CDU wants to scrap this law. There should be new rules that everyone helps shape. Fields and forests should not get extra protection status.

The new rules are to be drawn up with all affected stakeholders involved. They are meant to preserve natural resources and adapt them to climate change. Land that is used for farming or forestry today should not be placed under additional protection.

The CDU does not want Saxony-Anhalt to tighten environmental rules beyond what the EU and the federal government require. State law should adopt those rules one-to-one. The administration should also work more efficiently.

The EU and the federal government make rules to protect the environment. The CDU does not want the state to make them stricter. The state should adopt them exactly as they are. Offices should work faster.

The program says Saxony-Anhalt should not go beyond EU and federal environmental requirements. Information is to be pooled at a single point in the state. Automation and artificial intelligence are meant to make procedures more efficient. The program describes environmental protection as a precondition for sustainable growth rather than as an obstacle to the economy.

The CDU wants to preserve biodiversity, link habitats more closely and revise the state's biodiversity strategy. Protected areas are to keep receiving support and remain open to visitors. At the same time, it should be possible to review the protection status of species.

The CDU wants to protect animals and plants. Their habitats should be better connected. Protected areas should stay, and people should be able to visit them. The state should be able to check whether a species still needs protection.

Refuges for animals and plants are to be secured by linking habitats more closely, and invasive species are to get more attention. The CDU says compensation for damage caused by wildlife can raise acceptance of species protection. Volunteer conservationists are to be strengthened and stay involved in expert bodies. National parks, biosphere reserves and nature parks will continue to be supported. The CDU does not want to spend tax money on taking land out of use that is already farmed sustainably. The Grünes Band (Green Belt along the former inner-German border) is to be kept as a place of remembrance and remain in use.

The CDU wants to give more funding to animal shelters, animal welfare associations and sanctuaries. The ordinance on neutering cats is to apply across the whole state. Volunteers in animal welfare are to receive more recognition and reliable support.

The CDU wants to give animal shelters more money. Animal welfare groups and sanctuaries should get more help too. Cats should have to be neutered all over the state. This should lead to fewer stray cats.

The higher funding is meant to reflect rising costs and the greater investment needs of these facilities. Applying the cat neutering ordinance statewide is intended to reduce the number of stray cats and their suffering. The program also sees this as a contribution to protecting native birds. The work of volunteers is to be recognized more.

The CDU wants to support recycling and the circular economy as an industry and make it easier to use recycled building materials. Extracting raw materials within the state is to remain possible in order to preserve value chains. Environmental technology companies are also to keep receiving support.

The CDU wants more things to be used again. It should be easier to reuse old building material. The government should set an example. Raw materials should still be mined in the state.

Repair cafés, recycling centers and the reuse of building materials are to be supported, as is research into substitute and recycled building materials. Wind and solar installations are to be recycled more, mainly to recover rare raw materials. Raw materials should be extracted in the state in an environmentally sound way, followed by state-of-the-art restoration of the land. Former extraction sites and landfills at suitable locations are to be used for generating energy. Existing restoration orders are to be reviewed for this purpose and may be adjusted by mutual agreement. The CDU wants to keep supporting environmental technology firms, especially in biotechnology.