Grüne on the environment and animal welfare

The Greens want to preserve the state's nature reserves and the Black Forest National Park. The platform points to the threat facing native wildlife and says there must be places free from human interference.

The Greens want to protect nature in the state. This includes the nature reserves and the Black Forest National Park. Many animals and plants are in danger. Nature needs places where it is left alone.

According to the platform, more than one in three native species is at risk. Cem Özdemir pledges to stand up for the more than 100 nature reserves and the Black Forest National Park. The platform says there must be refuges where people do not intervene.

The Greens want to help companies design products and business models around reuse and recycling. The platform sees this as more than waste management and also justifies it with reduced dependence on raw material imports.

The Greens want people to throw away less. Things should last longer and get repaired. A repair bonus should help with that. Raw materials should be used again.

According to the platform, a circular economy runs from product design to the recovery of raw materials. The measures named include a repair bonus, support for repair cafés, makerspaces and hackerspaces, and procurement quotas for state agencies. The state congress on resource efficiency and the circular economy would continue. The Greens also aim to make the state more self-reliant in raw materials.

The Greens want to lower the number of animal experiments and replace them with animal-free methods wherever possible. In the long run, a phase-out of animal testing is to be achieved together with the scientific community.

The Greens want fewer experiments on animals. Researchers should use other methods without animals. The state should give more money for this. One day there should be no more animal testing.

Animal-free methods are to receive broad funding, and obstacles to them are to be removed. The 3R centers, which work on replacing, reducing and refining animal experiments, are to be expanded further. State funding is to increase. The phase-out is framed as a long-term goal to be reached together with science and research.

The Greens want to draw up a "Water Supply Strategy 2050" and encourage saving through tiered water pricing. Flood protection and heavy-rain preparedness are also to be strengthened, mainly through nature-based means.

Drinking water should stay safe in the future. The Greens want a plan up to 2050 for this. People who use a lot of water should pay more. Rivers should become more natural again.

Municipalities and water suppliers are to get support with implementation. Bogs and wet meadows are to be preserved and enlarged as natural reservoirs, and groundwater protected from pollution. River courses are to be restored, retention areas expanded and sponge-city projects funded. Disaster response and fire departments are to be strengthened; as a long-term goal the platform names rivers clean enough to swim in again.

The Greens want to increase funding for nature conservation and expand the connected habitat network to 15 percent of the state's area by 2030. Existing species protection programs are to be continued and strengthened.

The Greens want to spend more money on protecting nature. Habitats for animals and plants should be better connected. By 2030 they should cover 15 percent of the state. Programs for endangered species should continue.

According to the platform, the habitat network currently covers ten percent of the state's area. Programs for farmland birds, amphibians and insects are to continue and grow, as are biodiversity advice services and the dialogue between conservation and farming. Renewable energy is to be expanded in a nature-friendly way, for example with agrivoltaics, biodiversity solar parks and AI-assisted shutdown systems on wind turbines. Support programs for species sensitive to wind power are to be strengthened, and protected areas are to be placed under the conservation administration.

The Greens want to create incentives so that peat soils can be farmed without being destroyed. Peatland protection projects are to be carried out faster, including with private money.

Peatlands are wet soils that store a lot of carbon. The Greens want to keep them. Farmers should still be able to work there and earn money. Projects to protect peatlands should move faster.

Support is planned for paludiculture, meaning farming on wet peat soils. Land consolidation rules are to be adapted and buying land made simpler. Private capital is also to be drawn in, with projects of the Klimaschutzstiftung Baden-Württemberg (state climate foundation) serving as a model. Farming and conservation are to work together, and new sources of income are to open up for farms.

The Greens want to keep cooperating with grazing livestock keepers on protecting their animals and expand advisory services as widely as possible. Farmers are also to get help against invasive species.

Sheep and other grazing animals need protection from wolves and dogs. The Greens want to give animal keepers more advice. They want to keep working together with them. Farmers should also get help against harmful foreign species.

According to the platform, consistent herd protection sharply reduces attacks by stray dogs and predators. Nature-friendly grazing helps preserve species-rich cultural landscapes such as juniper heaths. Advisory services are therefore to be available across as much of the state as possible. The party wants to support farmers in fighting individual invasive animal and plant species that threaten native biodiversity.

The Greens want to expand environmental education from daycare to university and make nature accessible to everyone. In addition, the global goal of 30 percent protected areas is to be implemented in the state.

Children and adults should learn more about nature and species. This should happen in daycare, schools and universities. The Greens want more protected areas. Cities should become greener, for example with green schoolyards.

The Stuttgart natural history museum with its biodiversity competence center is to join the Leibniz Association. Wilderness education in the Black Forest National Park, biosphere reserves and other strictly protected areas is to be linked up. The national park, biosphere reserves and nature parks are to cooperate more closely in tourism marketing under the umbrella brand "Nationale Naturlandschaften," and full-time management of protected areas is to be developed further. The voluntary ecological year (Freiwilliges Ökologisches Jahr) is to grow. In cities, green schoolyards and daycare centers, restored spaces and nearby recreation areas are planned.

The Greens want to give animal shelters and welfare organizations more financial support and enforce animal welfare law more effectively. Veterinary offices are to get more staff for this.

The Greens want to protect animals better. Animal shelters should get more money. Offices that check on animal welfare should have more staff. Cats that roam outside should be neutered and registered.

Shelters are to receive help with construction and renovation, with feed, supplies and energy costs, and with veterinary care. The state's animal welfare strategy is to be implemented. Outdoor cats are to be marked, registered and neutered, with municipalities responsible and supported by the state. Illegal trade in puppies and exotic animals is to be fought. Animal welfare is to become part of learning programs in and outside school, and the office of the state animal welfare commissioner is to be strengthened and secured.

The Greens want to phase out the tethering of cattle, whether year-round or seasonal. Housing conditions for farm animals are to be improved overall.

Some cattle stand tied up in the barn. The Greens want to end this step by step. Cattle should have as much room to move as possible. Animals should not go through long transports.

Cattle are to get as much outdoor exercise or pasture access as possible. Breeding is to put more weight on animal health and dual-purpose breeds, meaning breeds not bred for a single performance trait. To avoid long animal transports, regional calf rearing and marketing are to be supported. Transports must comply with animal welfare and legal requirements.

The Greens want to adapt the state hunting and wildlife management law to new findings in wildlife biology, forest conversion and animal welfare. Hunters are to prove their marksmanship in the future.

The Greens want to change the rules for hunting. Hunters should show that they shoot accurately. Wild animals should have safe routes between their areas. There should be a plan against foreign animal species.

The current proof of shooting practice is to be replaced by proof of accuracy. For red deer, a statewide, science-based management system with monitoring and expert advice is planned. The statewide wildlife corridor plan is to be updated and implemented to connect populations. Against invasive animal species, the party wants to set up a "Maßnahmenplan Neozoen-Management" (action plan for managing non-native animals).

The Greens want to continue converting forests into species-rich mixed forests and leave ten percent of the state-owned forest to itself. Private forest owners are to receive advice and funding.

Heat and drought harm the forests. The Greens want forests with many kinds of trees. One tenth of the state's forest should stay untouched. Private forest owners should get help.

Public forest is to serve as a model: the state forest law is applied ecologically, and the forest strategy and forest conservation concept are expanded. FSC certification of the state forest stays in place. Together with municipalities, undisturbed natural development is also to be promoted in municipal and private forests. The state's timber construction initiative continues; the platform points to a timber share of over 50 percent in state buildings.

The Greens stand by the goal of no additional net land consumption and want to reach it as soon as possible. Development inside existing settlements takes priority: vacant buildings, brownfields and ready-to-build plots should be used before new construction on the outskirts.

The Greens want no more new land to be built over. First, empty buildings and unused plots in town should be used. Only then should building happen at the edge of town. This protects nature and farmland.

The program cites overheating cities, loss of species and the displacement of farming by sealed soil. Tools include a brownfield register at the regional association level, a follow-up cost calculator for building outside settlements and a digital brownfield overview for municipalities and residents. Those who turn vacant buildings back into housing would get financial support, and the land fund would keep helping municipalities buy plots. Municipalities would receive funding for land-efficient building and nature-friendly districts, accompanied by more green and water spaces in towns.