Petition for a referendum “save the bees” in forchheim: split opinion among county council members

Martina roth took the opportunity to cast her vote for the possible "save the bees" referendum on the very first day submit. Shortly after 10 a.M. Yesterday, the woman from forchheim rode her bicycle to the residents’ registration office at sattlertorstrabe 5. After she had drawn a number, she was allowed to go to the counter.

First, an employee looks at the ID and checks whether the person is entitled to vote. Martina roth will then be handed the list of signatures and can vote for the referendum initiative.

"This is important for biodiversity", finds roth. The forchheim resident lives near the forest. She noticed, for example, that the birds there are becoming fewer and fewer. "We should preserve nature and I hope that a petition for a referendum can bring something", she affirmed."

It sounded similar when county council members karl waldmann (grune) and heinrich kattenbeck (WLF) spoke up at the beginning of the week. However, their appeals to the district council were met with sometimes furious protest.

Waldmann referred to the example of ludwig schick. The district politicians should follow the example of the archbishop from bamberg and join the supporters, said waldmann. And kattenbeck argued: "the referendum is about a referendum for the farmers, even if hermann greif and some large farmers see it differently."

CSU district councillor and BBV functionary greif then railed against kattenbeck because he apparently did not want to acknowledge that the intention of the petition for a referendum was an "encroachment on people’s property and freedom" equal. Those who support the popular initiative are in favor of making 30 percent organic farming mandatory, but then consumers must also be obliged to buy 30 percent of the products. "To prescribe so much, that can’t go well", said hermann greif.

For kattenbeck, on the other hand, the question was: if the population of insects has declined by 75 percent in three decades; if 54 percent of all bees are threatened, 65 percent of field birds have disappeared (since the 1960s) and more than a third of arable wild herbs are endangered, then a better nature conservation law must be created as soon as possible. The coarse farmers naturally wanted to continue the "after flat to rake in calculated demands and "keep your spraying", said, subordinate kattenbeck. But the "peasant agriculture" this did not benefit, the WLF councilor stressed. "Species protection and better nutrition must be brought together." only the referendum will create the "framework conditions for nature-based agriculture".

Like hermann greif, sebastian korber (FDP) took a stand against the popular initiative: "being for the bees, that sounds good. But you have to read the fine print, it’s about expropriation-like interventions."

Michael hofmann (CSU), a member of the state parliament and a member of the district council, was also unwilling to let the kattenbeck theses pass: "there is a gap between what is wanted and what is achieved." the referendum threatened the small-scale landscape of french switzerland and the livelihood of fruit farmers. Because without demand, these flats were out of production, said michael hofmann. "I warn against fighting with such means."