Joint positions for the Bundestag elections presented by BGL, bdla and BdB

Under the heading "Green for town and country", the associations Bund deutscher Baumschulen (BdB), Bund Deutscher Landschaftsarchitekten (bdla) and Bundesverband Garten-, Landschafts- und Sportplatzbau (BGL) presented their joint positions for the Bundestag elections in Berlin on 16 May 2017. The core of the position paper is the improvement of the designed green in the cities and municipalities as well as entrepreneurial demands to strengthen the green companies.

The representatives of the associations Till Rehwaldt (bdla), Helmut Selders (BdB) and Lutze von Wurmb (BGL) presented the paper during a parliamentary evening, which was attended by eight members of the Bundestag from the committees Environment and Construction as well as Agriculture and Food, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL), Dr. Maria Flachsbarth and State Secretary in the BMEL Dr. Hermann Onko Aeikens. The Federal Ministry for the Environment and Building (BMUB) was represented by Head of Department Anke Brummer-Kohler.

"We have to put the Green Infrastructure - consisting of connected green open spaces with a high quality of stay - on an equal footing with the grey infrastructure of roads and public buildings. This costs human resources and money, but serves the well-being of the population and biodiversity," argued Till Rehwaldt.

In this context, Helmut Selders made it clear that research efforts also need to be increased: "We need to invest both in plant research and in the further development of research into plant health. This also includes the continuation of integrated crop protection in the face of numerous new and aggressive plant pests."

Lutze von Wurmb stressed the importance of private companies for the green sector, in addition to the long-term view of sustainable maintenance: "We want a strong administration that competently ensures and develops the quality of green spaces. However, the construction and maintenance of the green infrastructure should largely be in the expert hands of companies. For this, the economic and financial policy framework conditions must be right."

The lively discussion with the representatives from politics and ministries showed that all stakeholders are now aware of the importance of urban green spaces.

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