Grüne on the environment and animal welfare

The Greens want to keep the rule that forest cleared for wind turbines is replaced by new forest elsewhere. The party rejects payments that would allow developers to avoid reforestation.

Sometimes wind turbines stand in a forest. Trees have to go for that. The Greens want new forest to grow somewhere else. Nobody should be able to pay money instead.

According to the program, the rule applies to wind turbines just as to any other use of forest land. It is anchored in the Saxon Forest Act. The party rules out compensation payments in place of new planting.

The Greens want to gear urban and village planning to heat, drought and heavy rain. Rainwater is to seep away and be stored on site, and more trees, greened buildings and unsealed surfaces are to provide cooling.

There is more heat, drought and heavy rain. The Greens want to prepare towns and villages for this. Rainwater should stay in the ground and not just run off. There should be more trees and plants on buildings. Hot places like schoolyards and parking lots should get shade and open ground.

Water and green spaces are to be firmly anchored in urban and regional planning and linked with built infrastructure. In new development areas the sponge-city principle is to become the rule, and the use of graywater in residential and commercial buildings is to be advanced. The stock of roadside trees, orchard meadows, shrubs and tree-lined avenues is to be preserved and gradually increased, preferably with plants from Saxon nurseries. The Stadtgrün (urban green) and Natürliches Erbe (natural heritage) funding programs are to continue. The party wants to write requirements for greening, water retention and unsealing into state law.

The Greens want to slow species loss and factor species protection into every form of land use. Protected areas are to be preserved, improved and better linked, and the Saxon Switzerland National Park is to remain.

Many kinds of animals and plants are disappearing. The Greens want to slow this down. Protecting species should be considered everywhere, including farming, forests and towns. Protected areas should stay and get better. The Saxon Switzerland National Park should be kept.

The basis is the biodiversity program "Sachsens Biologische Vielfalt" (Saxony's Biological Diversity). The party wants to use the EU Nature Restoration Law to carry out projects across regional borders. Saxony's sites in the European Natura 2000 network are to be upgraded, and conservation areas in the cultivated landscape are to be linked more closely. The program also expects benefits for climate protection and adaptation, for example with urban greenery, floodplains and peatlands.

The Greens want to keep restoring damaged nature, guided by EU targets. The rewetting of Saxony's peatlands is to be secured for the long term because, in the program's view, it serves the climate and biodiversity. The network of conservation stations and the funding of nature conservation are also to be strengthened.

The Greens want to repair damaged nature. Peatlands should become wet again. This helps the climate and many animal species. Conservation stations should get reliable funding.

The national park is to be developed further, and visitor management in protected areas is to be reviewed and improved. Conservation stations, landscape management associations and environmental education centers are to be secured and expanded. Wolf management is to be developed within EU and federal rules so that wolves and grazing livestock can coexist. Beekeeping support is to be reorganized so that it also reaches beekeepers outside associations. Conservation funding is to become more digital and make advance payments easier, so that associations bear less financial risk in large projects; multi-year institutional funding is to be examined.

The Greens want more nature in cities because, in the program's view, cities are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Alongside green spaces and trees, small dense urban forests are to be created, including ones with edible plants.

The Greens want more nature in cities. There should be small, dense forests. They cool the city and clean the air. Animals find a home there.

The program lists open spaces, meadows, shrubs, tree-lined avenues and single trees as building blocks. Added to these are so-called Tiny (Food) Forests, very dense small woods on little land that are meant to serve species protection, air quality and cooling. Connected natural areas in cities are also meant to let rainwater seep away and give animals places to retreat.

The Greens want to reverse the loss of forest area and create more forest. Anyone converting forest to another use is to be required to plant new forest elsewhere; the party rejects paying money instead. Wood is to be used mainly for long-lasting purposes and burned less.

The Greens want more forest in Saxony. Anyone who removes forest should plant new forest elsewhere. Paying money instead should not be allowed. Wood should be used for building rather than burning.

Near-natural forest conversion is to keep receiving support regardless of ownership and with as little red tape as possible, including care for new plantings. On at least five percent of forest land, large areas are to emerge where nature develops undisturbed, for example in the Königsbrücker Heide. FSC certification is to be extended from one third to the entire state forest. For forestry in FFH areas (EU habitat protection sites), the program calls for more binding assessment rules. The timber construction competence center is to get a permanent home in a timber building, the use of logging horses is to be subsidized, and regional wood is to count more in public procurement.

The Greens want to draw up a comprehensive water strategy for Saxony. Priority is to go to a secure drinking water supply, wastewater disposal and the protection of water bodies. Water use is to fall, and soils in town and country are to store more water.

The Greens want a plan for water in Saxony. Drinking water should stay safe and good. Everyone should use less water. The ground should be able to soak up rain better.

The strategy is to build on the concept "Wasserversorgung 2030" and the strategy on water retention. Industry is to reuse process water, and incentives are meant to reduce trace substances and microplastics in water. Municipalities are to join water maintenance associations across the whole state and receive tools such as land swaps and compensation areas. Land consumption is to be stopped, and municipalities are to keep receiving funding and advice. The competence center for sustainable planning and building is to serve as an advice center for land-use conflicts and for building sponge cities.

The Greens want to restore rivers and streams to a natural state and, in flood protection, move dikes back first rather than build new ones or raise them. The EU Water Framework Directive is to be implemented quickly because, in the program's view, money is better spent on clean water than on penalties. The Elbe is to be developed in a near-natural way.

The Greens want to give rivers more room. Dikes should stand farther away from the river. Streams should flow naturally again. This protects nature and helps during floods.

A program called "100 wilde Bäche" (100 wild streams) is to support smaller municipalities with model restoration projects. For buying land, the party calls for a dedicated budget in the state budget and a right of first refusal for public bodies. Buffer strips with suitable trees and shrubs are to be created along waters, and streams in cities are to be uncovered where possible. The program rejects barrages on the Czech side of the Elbe; the Elbe's role as a waterway is to be downgraded. The Mittelelbe biosphere reserve is to be extended into Saxony, the "lebendige Mulde" project continued and the Leipzig floodplain revitalized as a major conservation project.

The Greens want reliable funding for animal shelters so that they do not have to turn animals away despite rising numbers and falling donations. Veterinary offices are to get more staff to inspect and penalize violations in keeping, breeding and transport.

Animal shelters have too little money. The Greens want to give them secure funding. Offices should get more staff. They should check whether people treat animals well.

Municipalities are to receive more money to pay for housing and feeding found and stray animals for longer. The post of animal welfare commissioner is to be secured permanently and given enough staff and resources. The state is to examine how it can support municipalities legally and financially with neutering ordinances for stray cats. Dogs are to be kept on a leash in nature during the breeding and nesting season. Animal keepers are to be supported in keeping animals in ways suited to the species.

The Greens regard veterinary care as a task of the state and want to secure it everywhere in Saxony, including in emergencies. To do so, models from human health care are to be transferred to veterinary medicine.

There should be vets everywhere in Saxony. This also applies to emergencies. The Greens see this as a job for the state. There should be central emergency phone numbers.

Veterinary emergency services are to be better coordinated, and central emergency numbers are to be published where they are easy to find. The program names as conceivable rural vet quotas, especially for large livestock, central emergency practices, phone dispatch centers and more telemedicine. Changes to admission requirements for the degree are to be examined. All animal clinics in the state are to be kept.

The Greens want the state of Saxony to stop funding animal experiments with public money. Animal testing should no longer be used in education and training. A cash prize is meant to encourage the development of animal-free research methods.

The Greens want fewer animal tests. Saxony should stop paying for them. Students should learn without animal tests. A prize should reward research that works without animals.

The platform sets the goal of doing without animal experiments in education and training. The state should no longer provide its own funds for such experiments. The Greens also aim to create a prize with prize money for research methods that work without animals and are relevant to humans.

The Greens want to create a right of collective legal action for associations in Saxony. Associations could then go to court over legal violations that affect the general public. This is meant to give animal welfare interests better representation, much as in environmental and nature protection.

Animals cannot go to court themselves. The Greens want animal welfare groups to be allowed to sue for them. Many other German states already allow this. Saxony should allow it too.

The platform points out that many other German states already have such a right. Associations would be empowered to challenge legal violations affecting the public in court. The Greens cite the existing rights to sue in environmental and nature protection as the model.

The Greens want to revise Saxony's hunting law so that animal and species protection take priority. Holders of hunting licenses should be required to undergo further training. Every county should have a rescue station for wild animals.

The Greens want to change the hunting law in Saxony. Protecting animals should matter more. Hunters should have to take regular training. Every county should get a station for injured wild animals.

The revision is to be based on current findings in wildlife biology. The Greens support municipal wildlife officers who look beyond hunting and focus especially on animal welfare, handling conflicts between people and wild animals. Rescue stations are to be set up in all counties. The responsible municipalities should receive more money from the state for this.

The Greens want to strongly promote the circular economy in response to expected raw material shortages. Existing clusters are to grow, and new products are to be supported until they reach the market. The state procurement law is to give special weight to circular business models.

The Greens want materials to be used again and again. This is called a circular economy. Companies and researchers should work together more closely. The state should prefer such companies when it awards contracts.

Material flows in production are to be closed, and more use is to be made of residual and waste materials. Partnerships between research and business are to grow; the platform cites the Center for the Transformation of Chemistry in Delitzsch as a model. Recycling systems and the related infrastructure are to be expanded, and especially harmful substances are to be sharply reduced and replaced where possible. Digitalization is to be factored in, and there is to be investment in skills and training for the circular economy. The platform sees this as a precondition for gradually decarbonizing production.

The Greens want to keep Saxony's repair bonus permanently and support initiatives that put the right to repair into practice. Repair cafés, repair initiatives, and repair buses are to receive start-up funding as needed. According to the platform, this saves resources and saves consumers money.

The Greens want to keep the repair bonus. It gives people money when they get broken devices repaired. Repair cafés should get money to get started. When buying a product, people should see how easy it is to repair.

The platform calls the right to repair adopted at EU level a breakthrough for the circular economy. It sees repair services as an important contribution, especially in rural areas. Returned devices are to be reused or recycled where possible and disposed of in an environmentally sound way only as a last resort. The Greens back uniform sustainability standards under the EU Ecodesign Regulation and want to implement them in Saxony in the most consumer-friendly way possible. Recycling information is to be easy to find and accessible.

The Greens want to sharply reduce municipal waste through a statewide zero-waste strategy and avoid conventional waste as a matter of principle. Municipalities are to get support for their own strategies. The party also backs setting up a hazardous waste company.

The Greens want much less trash in Saxony. There should be a plan for the whole state. Cities and towns should get help with their own plans. There should be more deposit and take-back systems.

Citizens, associations, and businesses are to be involved in the state strategy. For processing municipal waste, the platform aims for Saxony and its neighboring states to be self-sufficient. Cities and towns are to get incentives to join the international Zero Waste Cities network. Automated sorting, deposit, and take-back systems are to be expanded, and new waste-reduction methods are to receive continued support.

The Greens want to cut land consumption and reach the point by 2030 where, on balance, no new land is sealed. Land that is already sealed is to be used before new land. Commercial sites are to be awarded only by lease and based on the best concept.

The Greens want less land to be built over. By 2030, no new land should be sealed on balance. Old industrial sites should be used first. Commercial land should only be leased. The best concept should get the land.

According to the platform, farming and forestry have priority in land use. The plan includes a statewide land strategy with a land register and more cooperation among municipalities. Redeveloping unused industrial brownfields is to become easier to finance. Compensation measures are to focus on linked habitat networks in Saxony.