SPD on the environment and animal welfare

The SPD wants to punish the illegal dumping of waste in nature more severely. It points to rising costs for removing trash from state-owned forests.

Some people dump their trash in the forest. The SPD wants tougher penalties for this. Cleaning up costs more and more money. Everyone pays for it.

According to the platform, waste is being dumped in nature more and more often, as shown by higher cleanup costs in the state forest. Trash belongs at recycling centers, green-waste sites or incineration plants, it says. Those who dump it in nature harm the environment, animals and plants and shift the costs onto the public. Such violations are therefore to be penalized more strictly.

The SPD wants to safeguard drinking water quality with a water master plan. All rivers and lakes in the state are to be brought into good condition, with the state providing the money.

The SPD wants to protect drinking water. There will be a big plan for this. All rivers and lakes should become clean. The state will provide the money needed.

The platform counts clean drinking water as an essential public service and calls its quality the highest asset to protect. According to the platform, more than 25 percent of surface waters are currently in good or very good condition. In the coming years, all waters are to reach that level. Unsealing paved land is also meant to help, because rainwater that seeps away forms groundwater and reduces damage from heavy rain.

The SPD wants to cut the use of new land in Saarland in half within ten years and reach the federal goal of net-zero land consumption before 2050. Sealed surfaces are to be opened up again, and in rural areas building within existing towns is to take priority.

A lot of land in Saarland gets built on. The SPD wants to cut that in half in ten years. Paved areas should be opened up again. Building should mainly happen inside towns. Cities should get more green spaces.

An unsealing strategy is meant to return more land to nature than is newly taken. The goals are to be written into the new state development plan and combined with socially minded housing development. In rural areas, building within existing settlements is to come before building on open land. The program for renovating town centers will continue, with state money added to federal and EU funds. In cities, recreational and natural spaces are to improve the urban climate and make access to nature fairer.

The SPD wants to update the forest master plan and put ecological concerns ahead of commercial returns. Old beech trees are, where possible, no longer to be felled, and the wilderness forest near Saarbrücken is to double to 2,000 hectares.

The SPD wants to protect the forest better. The health of the forest matters more to it than profit. Old beech trees should be left standing where possible. The wild forest near Saarbrücken will double in size.

Less logging is meant to build up timber stocks and thereby serve stability, climate protection and biodiversity. Staffing and skills at the state forestry agency SaarForst are to be maintained and strengthened. The SPD wants to fund ecological, social and climate-related tasks regardless of whether timber use pays off. Private forest owners will continue to get support; at the federal level the SPD will push for subsidies that do not differ by type of ownership and for payment for ecosystem services. The Warndt forest and the forest near Dudweiler are to be designated as nature and recreation forests.

The SPD wants to develop the state's biodiversity strategy further and strengthen its three large protected landscapes. For the Bliesgau biosphere reserve, it will consider an expansion and supports building a biosphere visitor center.

Many kinds of animals and plants live in Saarland. The SPD wants to protect them better. The three large protected areas will be strengthened. A visitor center will be built in the Bliesgau.

The SPD wants to pay particular attention to preserving species-rich grassland and giving wilderness more room. Together with Rhineland-Palatinate, it wants to develop the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park further as a project for protecting wilderness areas. For the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park, it is pursuing a joint large-scale protected area and closer cooperation with the neighboring state. The Bliesgau biosphere reserve will continue to receive support, and a biosphere house is to serve as a central information point.

The SPD wants to fund animal shelters and rescue stations better and gear livestock farming more toward animal welfare. Certain animal transports, fur farming, the fur trade and black-market trade in animals are to be stopped.

The SPD wants to protect animals better. Animal shelters will get more money. Farms should not keep too many animals per area. Fur trading and fur farming should end. Animal testing should be replaced by other methods.

The animal welfare round table and the state animal welfare commissioner will stay in place. In livestock farming, the SPD is aiming for limits on animals per area and farm subsidies tied to animal welfare. Mobile slaughter units are to get more support in order to avoid long animal transports and strengthen regional supply chains. Transports to countries outside the EU are to end where European animal welfare standards do not apply. Information campaigns are to advise pet owners. The research prize for alternatives to animal testing will continue.