On 8 May 2024, Minister Petra Berg – together with LEG Saar’s CEO Valentin Holzer and state huntsman Josef Schneider – visited various fields in Lebach-Eidenborn that had been designated for the ‘Species-Rich Saarland’ (‘Saarland Artenreich’) project. The fields, which are already flowering and will be in full bloom by the summer, provide a habitat for countless native plants and animals.
‘This cooperation between our ministry, LEG Saar and VJS has been ensuring long-term support for flowered areas and thus biodiversity since 2023. It is only thanks to our goal-oriented collaboration that we have been able to preserve partridges, skylarks, pheasants and hares, as well as a wide range of insects, butterflies and small creatures, to safeguard our diversity of species in Saarland.’
LEG Saar has been managing the project as the administrative office. CEO Valentin Holzer: ‘Today we have seen the early results of our work on the ground, thanks to these flowering fields. I am delighted about these and other key contributions being made to environmental sustainability in our state. Ultimately, we as a regional development company also want to safeguard diverse flora and fauna for future generations. In our network formed with hunters, farmers, landowners and municipalities, we will continue to work together to call attention to this vital topic – for new habitats and a species-rich Saarland.’
‘We are delighted that the VJS’s projects to preserve and improve the diversity of species in the districts of Saarlouis and St. Wendel, successfully launched a few years ago, have now been able to be promoted across the state over the past year with the support of the Ministry of the Environment and LEG Saar’, state huntsman Josef Schneider said. ‘Sustainable, long-term agri-environmental measures, particularly the creation of countless structured flowered areas, are helping us to preserve habitats not just for our small wild game but also for all inhabitants of open landscapes, and thus put the brakes on the flora and fauna extinction crisis.’
The Saarland Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (MUKMAV), LEG Saar, and the Saarland hunting association VJS have been working together on the ‘Species-Rich Saarland’ (‘Saarland Artenreich’) project since June 2023. The aim of the project is to make people aware of the importance of the diversity of species, and to expand and strengthen biodiversity in Saarland by creating suitable habitats for native flora and fauna.
