SPD on the environment and animal welfare

The SPD wants to implement higher animal welfare standards in Thuringia quickly, practically and durably. It also backs a mandatory animal welfare label on animal products to give consumers guidance.

The SPD wants farm animals to be treated better. The new rules should come fast and last. Meat and other animal products should carry a label. The label shows how the animals lived. It should be required.

The higher standards are to be reflected both in the legal framework and in funding programs. Implementation should be fast, workable in practice and reliable over the long term. The platform also stresses that more animal welfare and sustainability should not come at the expense of farms and their workers.

The SPD wants to prevent flooding by developing floodplains so that more water is retained across the landscape. It sees active water management as a public task, including preparing for longer droughts.

The SPD wants better protection from floods. Land along rivers should be able to hold more water. The state should actively manage water. There should also be plans for dry periods. A plan for this should be ready by 2029.

Land uses that treat floodplains as habitat, economic space and recreation area at once, and make them more resilient to flood damage, are to be strengthened. Water supply for farming and forestry is to be strengthened close to where it is needed. The condition of drainage systems and ownerless reservoirs is to be reviewed. A concrete roadmap is to be in place by 2029 that also covers smaller reservoirs and takes into account firefighting water and groundwater recharge.

The SPD wants to preserve forests, improve their condition and develop sustainable, close-to-nature forest management. It rejects selling state-owned forest. Hunting is to be guided more by the condition of the forest.

The SPD wants to protect and improve forests. Forest owned by the state should not be sold. Private forest land should also be put to better use. Hunting should depend on how healthy the forest is.

All functions of the forest are to be given equal weight, and the value created by forestry is to be increased. A program is to bring more private forest land into active management. The joint forestry offices and timber marketing across ownership boundaries are to stay, as are private-law associations of forest owners. Hunting is to be guided more by the state of each forest than by cull plans, in order to reach appropriate game density and stable, diverse forests. The SPD also backs sustainable pond farming and waterways that migratory fish can pass through.

The SPD wants to slow the loss of species and habitats with concrete measures and preserve valuable landscapes. In the Southern Harz, natural gypsum mining is to end and a cross-state biosphere reserve is to be created.

The SPD wants to better protect animals, plants and landscapes. In the Southern Harz, mining of natural gypsum should stop. A large protected area should be created there. Farmers should get enough money when they protect nature.

The EU biodiversity strategy and the insect protection action plan are to be backed with measures. To accompany the gypsum phase-out, the SPD wants research on ecological building, for example with clay and straw, and on gypsum substitutes. Farmers are to be paid enough to cover the cost of ecological services; EU farm funds are to promote more organic farming and extensive land use. Conservation authorities, associations and Natura 2000 stations are to work more closely as a network, guided by the idea of "preservation through use." Hainich National Park is to be protected and developed further, and the salt load in the Werra river is to be reduced.

The SPD wants a circular economy in which resources are reused instead of thrown away. The focus is on less waste, recycling and repair; single-use packaging should ideally no longer be produced at all.

The SPD wants less to be thrown away. Things should be repaired and recycled. This is called a circular economy. There should be far less single-use packaging. Waste fees should be affordable for everyone.

The party pledges targeted investment, especially in developing and transferring new processes. It supports the federal program to avoid plastic waste. On waste fees, it wants rules that are manageable for everyone. For wastewater disposal, the solidarity principle is to apply.

The SPD wants to restructure Thuringia's forests ecologically so they can better withstand climate change and pests. Dedicated programs are to support private forest owners and municipalities as well as the state forestry agency.

The SPD wants to change the forests in Thuringia. The forests should cope better with heat and pests. There will be money for the state, towns and private forest owners. Part of the money should come from wind turbines in the forest.

On damaged areas, both replanting and, especially in state forests, natural regrowth are to be used. Reforestation is to be financed long-term from revenue from wind turbines in forests. Funding is also planned for diverse forest edges and new field hedges as refuges for endangered animals. In the forest districts, staffing and the role of forest workers are to be strengthened.

The SPD wants to limit the use of new land and present a master plan by 2027 that aims for net-zero land consumption. It cites the loss of biodiversity, grassland and farmland through soil sealing as the reason.

The SPD wants less land to be built over. There should be a plan for this by 2027. The goal is that, on balance, no new land is used up. In towns, old buildings should be torn down or renovated first. New housing areas come only after that.

Where land is used, compensation is to be ecologically effective and lasting; a statewide compensation pool is planned for this. Especially in rural areas, higher funding rates for demolition or energy retrofits are to encourage development in town centers. Demolition and renovation in the center are to take priority over designating new residential areas. The program describes soil as a limited resource.