Browsing by Person "Sponagel, Christian"

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Voraussetzungen und Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten sowie ökonomische Auswirkungen von Kompensationsmaßnahmen gemäß BNatSchG in der Landwirtschaft in Ballungsräumen am Beispiel der Region Stuttgart
(2021) Sponagel, Christian; Bahrs, Enno
Land take due to urbanisation has a major local and global impact on the natural balance, that are to be compensated for in many countries around the world. In Germany, this kind of impacts are to be compensated for according to the Impact Mitigation Regulation pursuant to Article 13 of the German Nature Conservation Act. In addition to land take for an intervention, such as a building site, additional land is required for the implementation of offset measures. Especially in expanding urban areas, where land scarcity is a problem, offsetting can exacerbate land use conflicts. Agriculture, in particular, is one key stakeholder in the context of offsetting. On the one hand, agricultural land, especially intensively used arable land, offers considerable potential for nature conservation enhancement. On the other hand, agriculture is also characterised by its considerable spatial impact. There is also a need for improvement in the compensation process from the point of view of nature conservation, as there are often deficits in the maintenance and implementation of measures. Existing instruments such as eco-accounts or so-called production-integrated compensation, a form of cooperation between nature conservation and agriculture, have so far been poorly established. The present study, therefore, analyses offset activities with a focus on agriculture in urban areas, drawing more particularly on the example of the Stuttgart Region. Chapters 2 and 3 of the study focus on the analysis of individual farms. In addition to in-depth interviews with farms, Chapter 2 provides a spatial analysis of agricultural land take for offset purposes using the example of the neighbouring cities of Stuttgart and Filderstadt. The insights gained are applied in Chapter 3 to analyse the acceptance of offset measures using a discrete choice experiment (DCE). In Chapter 3 the DCE is conducted with farmers in and outside the Stuttgart Region. In Chapter 4, the offset potential is determined using the example of arable land in the Stuttgart Region with the help of a geodata-based land use model. Within Chapter 5 different offset scenarios at regional level are analysed. To this end, data on the estimated offset needs of the municipalities in the Stuttgart Region up to 2030 were furnished by the Verband Region Stuttgart. They are used for modelling, and the results of the DCE from Chapter 3 are incorporated. Chapter 6 addresses the regional bundling and networking of production-integrated compensation measures with the help of expert-based maps. Using geodata, a spatially differentiated assessment is carried out from an agricultural and nature conservation perspective. The aim here is to identify areas that offer the greatest possible potential for synergies between agriculture and nature conservation in conjunction with offset measures. The spatial analysis shows that agriculture is disproportionately affected by land loss in the context of the intervention regulation compared to other land uses. Furthermore, the results show that agriculture generally accepts voluntary offset measures although this very much depends on the type of measure and legal safeguard. The results also show a considerable potential for offset measures on agricultural land, although there are strong spatial disparities in terms of costs, especially between the centre of an urban area and the peripheral areas, as demonstrated by the example of the Stuttgart Region. Consequently, the spatially unrestricted implementation of compensation can lead to a polarisation between the core of the region with therefore just a few ecologically beneficial, landscape-enhancing offset measures and the peripheral areas with numerous ecologically beneficial, landscape-enhancing offset measures. Moreover, the developed expert-based maps show that synergies are possible between agriculture and nature conservation on a significant scale. Offset measures can thus contribute to ecological sustainability in agricultural landscapes and are a relevant business option for farms. There are major challenges when it comes to communication between agriculture and authorities or municipalities: ensuring understanding and transparency in terms of the market for offset measures, and assessing the nature conservation enhancement of production-integrated compensation measures. In addition, the various forms of legal safeguard in connection with the determination of the legally prescribed care and maintenance period must be more clearly specified and communicated in the future. Voluntary or eco-accounting measures, in particular, should be used more intensively, as they allow for forward planning.