Garden Hedgehog Decline Sparks Green Action
Commission sought to present a plan for a worker radiation protection directive, addressing hazards from ionizing radiation exposures.
In the charming city of Wolfratshausen, the dwindling hedgehog population has become a cause for concern among local environmentalists, particularly the Wolfratshausen Greens. However, a controversial proposal to restrict the use of lawn mowers at night faced heavy scrutiny, causing a division within the city council.
According to Dr. Hans Schmidt (Greens), the hedgehog population is falling rapidly due to various factors. These include the lack of suitable habitats in both modern landscapes and tidy city gardens, road accidents, lawn mower accidents, and a decline in insects. Schmidt emphasized the importance of the spunky creature in maintaining ecological balance and proposed that the city administration should consider measures to protect these little critters during nighttime lawn mowing.
To promote hedgehog welfare, Schmidt suggested a multi-faceted approach, including an informative campaign about the role of hedgehogs in the ecosystem, guidelines for using lawn mowers safely, and constructing hedgehog-friendly gardens. Moreover, he proposed that for new construction projects, a fence permeability of at least ten centimeters should be maintained to provide access for small animals like hedgehogs.
Günther Eibl (CSU), the deputy mayor, generally supported the proposed initiative but had concerns about the application's form and scope. He suggested providing information on hedgehogs in the official town brochure and stressed the need for a more collaborative approach. This included bringing all stakeholders together to prevent an increase in town hall employee workload.
Gerlinde Berchtold (SPD) voiced frustration, claiming that the administration was being inundated with tasks by the Greens rather than taking proactive measures themselves. She recommended joining forces with the Nature Conservation Association to launch a hedgehog protection campaign instead of burdening the administration.
Town hall employee Sebastian Sens stated that a ban on self-driving lawn mowers at night falls outside the Bavarian Building Ordinance and the Building Code. If the city council decides to pursue this issue, it would be more appropriate to discuss it in the main city council rather than the building committee.
In the face of criticism, the Greens removed the demand for a ban on nighttime operation of lawn mowing robots from the agenda. The surviving demand remains the implementation of suitable hedgehog-friendly fence designs in new construction projects. This request will be examined by the responsible specialist department after it receives official approval from the city council.
- The controversial proposal centered around restricting nighttime lawn mowing, which is a part of the domain of policy-and-legislation and science, sparked intense debate in the city council of Wolfratshausen, particularly among politicians like Günther Eibl (CSU) and Gerlinde Berchtold (SPD).
- In a bid to protect the endangered garden hedgehogs, Dr. Hans Schmidt, a prominent environmental scientist and a member of the Wolfratshausen Greens, advocated for a multi-faceted approach that encompasses general-news topics such as ecological balance and addressing insect decline, informative campaigns, and constructing hedgehog-friendly gardens.
- Amidst criticism and suggestions for collaboration, the Wolfratshausen Greens revised their original proposal, retaining only the demand for suitable hedgehog-friendly fence designs in new construction projects – a matter now under review by the responsible specialist department and eventually to be decided upon by the city council, moving forward in the field of environmental-science and policy-and-legislation.
