What do the parties in Thuringia say on the environment and animal welfare?

The AfD wants better flood protection and forests that can withstand drought. It also wants to replant forests and do more to prevent wildfires.

The AfD wants better protection against floods. Forests should cope better with dry weather. New trees should be planted. There should be fewer forest fires.

The AfD wants a broad study into the causes of insect decline that also looks at wind power and solar installations. To protect ground-nesting birds and small game, it wants to test large insect habitats and step up hunting of introduced species such as raccoons.

There are fewer and fewer insects. The AfD wants a big study on this. The study should also look at wind turbines and solar panels. The AfD also wants to protect birds and hares. Hunters should hunt more raccoons.

The AfD wants farm animals to be transported only over short distances to the nearest regional slaughterhouse. Animal testing should become less common through alternative research methods, and animal welfare laws should be consistently enforced.

Animals should travel only a short way to the slaughterhouse. The slaughterhouse should be nearby. There should be fewer tests on animals. Researchers should use other methods.

The AfD wants to cut the number of wolves in Thuringia and across Germany, following the Scandinavian example, to prevent attacks on livestock. Species that once lived in the region should be reintroduced only if a long-term scientific plan exists.

The AfD wants fewer wolves in Thuringia and Germany. This should stop wolves from killing sheep and other farm animals. Affected owners should get money to make up for losses. Old species should only come back with a good plan.

The AfD wants the state to fund animal shelters better and to support volunteers working in animal welfare. More inspection staff and public information are meant to counter illegal animal keeping, which it links to online trade.

Animal shelters should get more money from the state. The AfD also wants to support volunteers. There should be more checks against illegal animal keeping. People should be better informed.

The AfD rejects the industrial slaughter of animals without stunning and calls for a ban. It points to rules already in place in other European countries.

In ritual slaughter, animals are killed without being stunned first. The AfD is against this. It wants to ban it. Other countries in Europe have already done so.

The AfD wants to reforest damaged Thuringian woodlands quickly and restructure them so they can withstand changed environmental conditions. Wind turbines should be kept out of forests as a matter of principle and permanently.

The AfD wants to replant damaged forests quickly. The forest should cope better with drought and pests. There should be no wind turbines in the forest. The AfD says turbines and their access roads destroy forest land.

The AfD rejects new restrictions on hunting and wants to leave the state hunting law essentially unchanged. It considers the state government's "forest before game" approach wrong and opposes higher culling quotas.

The AfD wants no new bans for hunters. Lead ammunition should stay legal. The AfD also does not want hunters to have to shoot more and more animals. It says game animals belong in the forest. Fences and other protection for young trees are better.

The AfD wants to bring the wolf under hunting law and manage its population on the Swedish model. Problem animals should be killed quickly and with little red tape to limit conflicts with people and livestock farmers.

The AfD wants hunters to be allowed to shoot wolves. The number of wolves should be limited, as in Sweden. The AfD says wolves kill sheep and other grazing animals. The owners of these animals should get help.

The AfD wants to shield recreational anglers from additional requirements. Children and teenagers should be allowed to fish without their own license when accompanied by an adult license holder.

The AfD wants to make fishing easier. Children and teenagers should be able to fish without their own license. An adult with a license must be with them. New rules should only come if they truly help nature.

The AfD wants to allow burning days again, meaning days on which garden waste may be burned. In the party's view, their abolition by the Left-SPD-Green state government ignores everyday life in rural areas.

The AfD wants to bring back burning days. On these days people may burn garden waste. The state government ended this. The AfD says this does not fit life in the countryside.

The BSW wants better funding for sewage connections in rural areas and a review of wastewater rules to ease the burden on those responsible for disposal. Rivers and lakes should also be brought into good condition under the EU Water Framework Directive.

The BSW wants more homes in the countryside linked to sewers. There should be more money for this. The rules for wastewater should be checked. Rivers and lakes should become cleaner and more natural. Less salt from mining should go into rivers.

The BSW wants to preserve existing reservoirs and ponds and make it easier to build new ones, so water can be held back for dry summers. Together with local governments, it plans to expand funding for protection against heavy rainfall.

The BSW wants to store more water. Ponds and reservoirs should stay. New ones should be easier to build. This water helps in dry summers. The state should also do more against heavy rain.

The BSW wants groundwater withdrawals limited to the amount that naturally recharges and wants groundwater protected from pollution. Using the state's compensation ordinance, Thuringia is to move toward the goal of zero net new land sealing. A pool of land freed up by demolishing unused buildings would let companies offset their projects quickly.

The BSW wants to protect groundwater. People should not pump out more than comes back. Less land should be covered with concrete. Old, unused buildings should be torn down. Companies can then use that land to make up for their own construction.

The BSW wants a mining ordinance requiring mining companies to set aside insolvency-proof reserves to clean up after extraction ends. The reason given is renewed interest from mining firms in Thuringia's mineral deposits. Energy companies would also have to pay part of their profits into a restoration fund to compensate for the land they use.

Mining companies should save money in advance. That money pays to fix the damage later. The money should stay safe even if the company goes bankrupt. Energy companies should pay too. They use up land. The money goes into a fund for nature.

The BSW opposes a nuclear waste repository in Thuringia. It argues that the state never had a nuclear power plant and already bears above-average costs from past uranium mining. With federal help, uranium-mining legacy sites outside the remit of Wismut are to be cleaned up.

The BSW does not want a nuclear waste site in Thuringia. Thuringia never had a nuclear power plant. Uranium was mined here in the past. That caused a lot of damage. The federal government should help clean it up.

The BSW wants better funding for recognized conservation groups so they can contribute their expertise to public consultation procedures. The Natura 2000 stations are to be kept and given a project budget. Animal shelters would receive support not only for investments but also for running costs.

The BSW wants to give nature groups more support. They should have a say in plans. Certain nature stations should stay and get money for projects. Animal shelters should also get money for their daily costs.

The CDU wants to keep converting Thuringia's forests into mixed forests with many tree species and to replant damaged areas. Private and municipal forest owners are to receive funding and advice. The platform argues that healthy forests bind large amounts of CO₂.

Many forests in Thuringia are sick. The CDU wants to turn them into mixed forests. Many kinds of trees grow there. People who own forest should get money and advice. One tree should be planted for every newborn child.

The CDU rejects taking more managed forests out of use and turning them into wilderness areas. In the platform's view, this does not help Thuringia's forests. Areas already set aside are to be reviewed to see whether they can be used again.

Some forests are no longer managed. Nobody may harvest wood there. This is called a set-aside. The CDU wants no more set-asides. It wants to check whether set-aside forests can be used again.

The CDU wants to create a legal basis for limiting the number of wolves in Thuringia. At the federal level it wants interventions to be allowed immediately, without a specific cause and without prior damage. Beavers are also to be regulated more closely.

The CDU wants to keep the number of wolves small. There should be new rules for this. Hunters should be allowed to drive away or shoot wolves. This should be allowed even without earlier damage. The number of beavers should also be managed better.

The CDU wants to leave Thuringia's hunting law unchanged and treat forest and game as a unit. Anglers, commercial fishers and pond farmers are to receive support. The platform presents hunting and fishing as contributions to nature and species protection.

The CDU does not want to change the hunting law in Thuringia. It thinks the law works well. For the CDU, forest and wild animals belong together. Anglers and fishers should get help.

The CDU wants to keep refuges for animals and plants, especially endangered species. Protected areas are not to be reduced for other purposes such as wind power. Animal shelters are to receive more funding.

The CDU wants to keep protected areas for animals and plants. No wind turbines should be built there. Insects should get more places to live. Animal shelters should get more money.

The CDU wants to guarantee a reliable water supply everywhere in the state and connect more households to wastewater systems. Rivers and streams are to get more room, and cities are to be supported in adapting to heat. Less new land is to be sealed.

The CDU wants safe water for every place in Thuringia. More homes should be connected to sewers. Rivers should get more space. Cities should get help against heat. Less ground should be built over.

The CDU wants to strengthen recycling and reuse and turn waste into part of closed material loops. It also aims for a cycle for CO₂: the gas is to be captured, used as a raw material or stored permanently. Domestic raw materials are to be extracted in a way compatible with nature.

The CDU wants less waste and more reuse. It wants to support repair cafés. People fix broken things there. CO₂ should be captured and then used or stored. Old mining sites should become nature again.

The Left wants to strengthen humane livestock farming and fund a socially fair shift toward better animal welfare. Sow crates and fully slatted floors are to be phased out, and decentralized slaughter sites are to replace large slaughterhouses.

Animals should be kept better. Narrow crates for pigs should go step by step. Farmers get money for better barns. There should be small slaughterhouses in the region.

The Left wants to make Thuringia's forests more resistant to drought, storms and pests through near-natural conversion to mixed forest. 500 million euros are to be available for this by 2030, and the state forestry agency is to get more staff and money.

The forest in Thuringia suffers from heat and pests. The Left wants to change it. There should be more mixed forest with leafy trees. The state gives 500 million euros for this by 2030. Public forest should not be sold.

The Left rejects a final repository for nuclear waste in Thuringia. Its reason is that the state already carries an above-average burden of radioactive waste left over from uranium mining.

Germany is looking for a place for nuclear waste. The Left does not want this place to be in Thuringia. Uranium used to be mined in Thuringia. There is already a lot of radioactive waste from that.

The Left wants to keep animal shelters and animal welfare groups well funded and supports a right for animal welfare associations to sue. It backs mandatory tagging and registration of cats, wants to replace animal testing with other methods, and aims to end cruel breeding of dogs at the federal level.

The Left wants to help animals more. Animal shelters should get enough money. Cats should get a tag so owners can be found. There should be fewer tests on animals. Animal welfare groups should be allowed to go to court.

The Left wants to reduce land consumption more effectively in order to protect soils. The guiding principle is that, on balance, no additional land is sealed. Anyone who intervenes in nature and landscape should primarily compensate in kind rather than pay money.

More and more ground is being built over. The Left wants to stop that. In the end, no more ground should be covered than before. Anyone who builds should free up ground elsewhere. Just paying money should not be enough.

The Left wants waste prevention to come first in waste management and wants recyclable materials returned to the cycle wherever possible. The repair bonus is to become permanent and rise to 300 euros per person per year.

The Left wants less trash to be created. Useful materials in trash should be used again. People who get things repaired receive some money. This repair bonus should stay. It should go up to 300 euros a year.

The Left wants the federal government to share the cost of cleaning up major contaminated sites in Thuringia. Industrial and mining companies are to be required to set aside money for aftercare so that no new legacy pollution arises.

Old factories and mines have polluted the ground. Cleaning up is very expensive. The Left wants the federal government to help pay. In the future, companies should have to save money for later damage.

The Left wants to prepare Thuringia better for heavy rain, floods and drought. This includes sponge city concepts, implementing the low-water strategy, well-equipped counties and disaster relief depots, and a nationwide relief fund plus insurance for damage.

Heavy rain and dry spells are happening more often. The Left wants to prepare the state for this. Towns should store rainwater better. Helpers should have good equipment. After damage, a relief fund should give money quickly.

The Left wants to secure Thuringia's water supply and connect more households to central sewage treatment plants. Funding for wastewater disposal is to rise substantially so that costs do not fall on private households alone and fees stay affordable.

The Left wants to secure clean drinking water for everyone. More homes should be connected to sewage plants. This matters most in villages. The state should give more money for this. Fees should stay affordable.

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 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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.