Leipzig has run out of compensation areas: the City Planning Office is launching a new mapping project

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A question raised in the city council has consequences. At the last city council meeting in July, the BSW group wanted to know, amongst other things: “What is the current extent of municipal compensation areas within Leipzig’s urban area and outside the city limits?” It is actually an obvious question, because whenever valuable green space is cleared within the city limits to make way for construction, the ecological loss must, as far as possible, be offset in the immediate vicinity. This has become increasingly difficult in recent years

Even back then, the response from the Office for Urban Greenery and Waterways suggested that the city did not have a truly reliable overview of such compensation areas.
For years, therefore, it has been designating such areas further and further outside the city limits, where they have absolutely no impact on biodiversity or climate protection in Leipzig.
as confirmed by the regional office of the StadtNatur initiative.

The situation was very similar with the complete clear-cutting at the Bayerischer Bahnhof
.

And the city’s plans to sell the small copse on Capastraße to RB Leipzig – thereby clearing the way for its felling – made the problem all the more apparent. Even in the draft proposal, the Land Registry Office had to admit that there were hardly any compensation options available for the nearby copse.

Economic interests versus habitat conservation

This means the issue has finally come to the attention of the city council groups as well. The recent hot weeks in particular have shown just how valuable and irreplaceable the city’s established green spaces are. And that the political groups simply cannot rely on the administration to act in the interests of climate and species protection when ‘economic interests’ are given greater weight.

And the Department of Urban Development and Construction has now, in effect, officially admitted that the city does indeed lack an overview of the compensation areas still available within the urban area. This is because what the Green Spaces Office cannot deduce from its old maps is now to be re-recorded through a mapping exercise across the entire city area. And this is not to be carried out by the Office for Urban Greenery and Waterways, but on behalf of the City Planning Office. The intention is no longer to rely on the illegible maps held by the Green Spaces Office.

City maps and searches for potential compensation areas for building projects

The City Planning Office describes the necessity of knowing about such areas as follows: “Unsealing concrete surfaces, creating an orchard meadow or planting perennials and shrubs: when trees are felled or other interventions in nature are necessary for municipal building projects, these must be compensated for. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable areas for this, the city administration is now drawing up a compensation plan.”

This will come as a surprise not only to the BSW parliamentary group. Was it their enquiry, or was it the growing dispute over the Capa Wood that has finally prompted the city to address this shortcoming?

To this end, from Monday 31 August until, it is expected, 23 October, selected areas within the city limits will initially be mapped. Staff from the ‘Institute for Vegetation Science and Landscape Ecology’ are therefore working on brownfield sites and vacant plots on behalf of the City Planning Office. There, they are assessing the ecological situation and identifying opportunities for enhancement.

To identify themselves, the mappers are carrying a letter of authorisation from the City of Leipzig. As these are not exclusively municipal areas, owners are asked to grant the staff access to the sites, according to the City Planning Office. “In doing so, you are supporting the city’s efforts to facilitate building projects whilst at the same time preserving habitats for animal and plant species within the city.”

The land bank is empty

Until now – according to the City Planning Office – a municipal land pool could be used for compensation measures. But this – surprise, surprise – has been exhausted. Or to put it another way: the city simply no longer has any land within the city limits available for compensation. “Leipzig is growing rapidly and competition for land within the city is increasing, which makes the search more difficult. However, the aim is to provide compensation within the city limits, which is why we are not only examining land owned by the city,” says the City Planning Office, explaining the reasons for the new survey.

To assess potential sites, the City Planning Office emphasises that it is drawing, amongst other things, on the city’s biotope network concept. Which makes perfect sense: “The biotope network is a web of habitats for animals and plants. Only when these are permanently interconnected can species migrate or spread unhindered between sites. This is the only way to counteract species extinction and preserve biodiversity. The City Council will make the final decision on the concept.”

The new ‘Green Master Plan’ that has just been presented
at least outlines the extent to which the biotope network within the city limits actually needs to be expanded in order for it to have a truly tangible ecological impact on Leipzig. However, in many places this also requires private landowners to be willing to make their land available for compensation schemes.

Private landowners sought

“Private landowners can now also contact the city if they wish to make their land available as compensation areas,” invites the City Planning Office. This can be done by email at kompensation@leipzig.de.

The plots should be at least 100 square metres in size.

Owners who wish to remove paving from private land and turn it into green space can also apply for funding. Details of the programme are available online at www.leipzig.de/gruendachfoerderung.