For the past five years, the state-wide ‘Species-Rich Saarland’ (‘Saarland Artenreich’) project has been promoting native species and thus boosting biodiversity in Saarland. This makes the people responsible for it even more delighted that the project has now been extended for another year. They view this as an opportunity to continue and strengthen their commitment to species-rich landscapes. To mark the occasion, on 21 August the Minister for the Environment Petra Berg, LEG Saar’s CEOs Valentin Holzer and Mirco Bertucci, and state huntsman Josef Schneider took a walk together in Lebach-Eidenborn to explore some examples of ‘Species-Rich Saarland’ flowered areas and discuss their importance, as well as the joint commitment being undertaken.
‘Today we have had an opportunity to personally observe the visible results of our work: despite the late stage of the summer and new challenges posed by the weather, there were still some late blooms to be seen. This shows how important our commitment to environmental sustainability is’, LEG Saar’s CEO Valentin Holzer explained. ‘Together with hunters, farmers, landowners and municipalities, we will continue our commitment to new habitats and preserving the diversity of species – for a species-rich Saarland and for future generations.’
Minister Petra Berg emphasised: ‘This collaboration between LEG Saar, VJS and the Ministry for the Environment is playing a vital role in increasing biodiversity in the area. I would like to sincerely thank our partners for creating local acceptance regarding the development of floral landscapes and work with farmers to implement this. That is how species protection works – collaborating on a local level, to benefit humans and nature.’
‘We are delighted that our project to ensure a species-rich Saarland has been able to be implemented together with LEG Saar and with the state-wide support of the Ministry for the Environment’, state huntsman Josef Schneider (of Saarland hunting association VJS) said. ‘We are using sustainable agri-environmental schemes, especially richly structured flowering areas, to create habitats for small game and other open landscape species – making a major contribution to combating the loss of species diversity.’
‘Species-Rich Saarland’ (Saarland Artenreich) project
LEG Saar is coordinating the project as the administrative office. They are working in conjunction with regional hunters, farmers and municipalities to identify suitable areas for insect-rich floral landscapes. Participating landowners are provided with a special regional ‘habitat seed mixture’ consisting of numerous different wild flowers and crop plants, free of charge. In return, they commit to leaving the seeded areas fallow for three years. These flowering areas, at least 21 metres wide, provide nutrition and protection for wild bees and other insects, pheasants, wild hares and endangered farmland bird species.
What has been achieved so far
Working in conjunction with project partner VJS, hunting rights holders, municipalities and landowners in the region, around 300 hectares of land across Saarland have been transformed into species-rich habitats using the seeds provided. The project partners obtain the seeds from Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale in Cologne and Saaten-Zeller in Eichenbühl. Around 600 kilograms of seeds were handed out in 2025. Seeding in the spring brings a new set of challenges each year, as the early spring weather in past years has often seen lingering dry periods – particularly problematic for sunflowers. This year, long periods of dryness were followed by lingering rainfall, which some species in the seed mix were able to withstand better than others.
This makes creating flower-rich areas even more important. One of our aims is to increase public awareness of species diversity, as this plays a major role in our state’s sustainable development.
