SPD on the environment and animal welfare

The SPD wants to maintain the state's protected areas as refuges for species and expand them as places of environmental education. The Green Belt is to be tied more closely into the network of protected areas, and tree-lined avenues are to be replanted.

The state has many protected areas for nature. The SPD wants to look after them well. People should also learn about nature there. New trees should grow along roads where old ones are missing.

The Green Belt along the former inner-German border is to become a cross-state World Heritage site while also keeping the memory of the division alive. Gaps in avenues are to be filled, the avenue fund is to give more support to replanting and new planting, and red tape is to be reduced. The competence center for eco-securities and products such as MoorFutures, hedge vouchers and forest shares will continue. For conflicts with species such as the cormorant, the SPD supports research on species-appropriate population control together with the Baltic Sea neighbors.

The SPD wants to protect groundwater from contamination and strengthen the natural water balance. Rivers and streams should be passable and water should be retained in the landscape, also in view of longer dry spells.

The SPD wants to keep groundwater clean. Rivers and streams should become more natural again. Water should stay in the landscape longer. That matters because dry periods are getting longer.

The program treats the restoration of water bodies as a basis for agriculture, climate adaptation and nature conservation. Money from the federal action program for natural climate protection and the special framework plan is to go into linking habitats, for example through streams, flower strips, hedgerows and agroforestry. For drinking water protection, the SPD relies on cooperation between water utilities and farms in the catchment areas. It points to the Alliance for Clean Water that it initiated.

The SPD wants to protect all contiguous built-up areas on the coast and along rivers from flooding. Water and soil associations are to keep receiving support for investments in dikes and pipes.

Floods can happen on the coast and along rivers. The SPD wants to protect towns there. Dikes should become stronger. Broken pipes should be repaired.

The program points to the Elbe flood protection program and to annual investments of around 25 million euros in flood and coastal protection. The associations are to get help with upgrading dikes and repairing defective pipes. The SPD regards the revised state water law as essential for coastal and flood protection and for the drinking water supply.

The SPD wants to further cut the nutrients and pollutants entering the Baltic Sea and monitor its waters continuously. It also wants action against microplastics and ghost nets and demands that the federal government fully clear old munitions from the Baltic.

The Baltic Sea should become healthier. Less fertilizer and fewer toxins should get into the sea. Old fishing nets and plastic should come out of the water. The federal government should remove old war munitions from the sea.

The SPD is looking into water protection beyond the mandatory five-meter buffer strips, on the principle of public money for public services. Against microplastics, plastic waste is to be avoided and recycled and recovery methods researched, with avoidance taking priority. Fishers are to switch voluntarily to modern fishing methods so that ghost nets do not arise, and existing nets are to be retrieved. The state wants to make its own contribution to clearing munitions from both world wars.

The SPD wants less new land to be sealed over and gives development inside existing towns priority over new building zones. Measures to adapt to climate change should in future also be payable through eco-accounts (compensation credits).

Less soil should be built over. Empty houses and old sites in town should be used first. New building areas come only after that. Trees and water should cool cities in hot weather.

Buildings that have stood empty for a long time are to be put back into use. Disused sealed sites such as old barns, military grounds, landfills or rail facilities are to provide space for new housing in rural areas. Clearing such degraded sites is to be valued highly when eco-points are awarded. The SPD wants to push for blue-green urban development, in which water, trees and green spaces improve the city climate.

The SPD wants to convert forests into species-rich, climate-stable deciduous and mixed forests and to continue the reforestation program. Forest owners are to be specially rewarded for such measures, with the federal government providing part of its carbon pricing revenue for this.

The SPD wants to change the forests in the state. There should be more leafy trees and mixed forests. Such forests cope better with drought and pests. Forest owners should get money for this. Part of the money should come from the federal government.

The program justifies the conversion with drought and pest infestation caused by climate change. The state intends to fully co-finance the federal program for minimizing forest damage. To prevent forest fires, there are to be many more water extraction points for firefighting, and fire protection routes are to be made easier to drive on. The timber construction cluster in Wismar and further clusters of this kind are to be supported, as is the use of wood as a material and for energy. In addition, agricultural and forest land is to be included in CO2 certification so that it can take part in certificate trading.

The SPD wants comprehensive monitoring of wolves and the quick, legally secure removal of animals that cause problems. Protecting livestock herds is to remain the top priority. On hunting, the party continues to rely on hunters and on monitoring the impact of game on forests.

The SPD wants to watch wolves closely. Wolves that cause problems should be killed quickly. This should be legally safe. Protecting sheep and other farm animals stays very important. Hunters in the state should keep looking after healthy game populations.

According to the program, the wolf has been listed in the state hunting law since 2024 and in the federal hunting law since 2025. For herd protection, the SPD points to the revised guidelines on compensation and funding. The party regards the roughly 16,000 hunters in the state as guarantors of healthy, species-rich game populations. The game impact monitoring, which serves as the basis for culling plans, is to remain in place.

The SPD wants to improve conditions for animals transported to slaughter, allow more inspections and limit transport times. It rejects transporting animals from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for slaughter to countries outside the EU. Animal shelters, volunteer animal welfare work and zoos are to keep receiving support.

The SPD wants animals to be treated better during transport. The trips should be shorter. There should be more checks. Animals from the state should not go to countries outside the EU for slaughter. Animal shelters and zoos should keep getting money.

The improvements for transports are to come as part of a nationwide livestock strategy. The program argues that the growing internationalization of the slaughter and meat industry is worsening transport conditions. The state is to keep paying for the neutering of feral cats. The SPD wants to support the modernization of zoos through additional investment options in the MV investment plan.