Credit: Patric Lorgé/ natur&ëmwelt,
On Thursday 4 July 2024, natur&ëmwelt, a leading conservation NGO in Luxembourg, has announced it is following with concern the numerous announcements by the government regarding simplifications of procedures in the areas of the environment, agriculture and housing.
Despite the lack of precise details available at present, the simplification of procedures concerning building and agriculture carries significant risks for the protection of nature and the environment. Given the poor state of nature in Luxembourg, as well as the climate and biodiversity crisis, natur&ëmwelt stressed that the “wrong priorities are being set here”. The non-profit organisation emphasised that restoration and development of the natural heritage should instead be considered a priority task and addressed in an interministerial manner.
As a supplier of water and food and protection against floods and droughts, intact nature is the basis of human life. However, according to the Observatory for Climate, Environment and Biodiversity (OCEB), two-thirds of the natural habitats in Luxembourg are in an unfavourable or poor state of conservation. For wild animal and plant species, the situation is even more dramatic: 80% are in a precarious state of conservation.
Building faster at the expense of nature?
There are undoubtedly useful simplifications, such as the consolidation of contact points, the standardisation of building regulations and the extension of construction projects exempt from permits when there is no negative impact on the environment.
However, in the government announcements, many measures risk having a negative impact on nature and reduce the legitimate rights and opportunities for participation of other citizens. These include, for example, the need for environmental impact studies only from an area of 4 hectares, the abolition of compensation measures for different species or the introduction of the principle "silence means consent".
Even though no precise details are yet available at present, these announced government measures carry significant risks for nature protection, which natur&ëmwelt noted it is following with concern. In this sense, natur&ëmwelt also expressed, in its position on Bill 8308 amending the Nature Protection Act, its doubts about the introduction of the "Recourse for Reform" and "Nature in Due Time".
Where are the measures to strengthen nature?
Even if administrative simplifications could be undertaken in the field of nature protection, natur&ëmwelt highlighted the need to preserve and strengthen nature and biodiversity. “Luxembourg must protect valuable habitats more quickly and on a larger scale and restore natural habitats in order to ensure the recovery of species populations,” according to natur&ëmwelt.
According to the OCEB, intensive agriculture, the fragmentation of landscapes by transport infrastructure, the sealing of soils due to urbanisation and the continued pollution of water, soil and air by transport and industry, in particular, offer less and less space for nature in Luxembourg to flourish healthily. This is why the strengthening, and not the dismantling, of nature protection should be recognised as an interministerial priority by the government, the non-profit organisation emphasised.
Why is nature protection not used as an opportunity for agriculture?
Also in the framework of the Landwirtschaftsdësch (farmers’ forum), the government has promised simplifications to the detriment of nature protection, while farmers themselves depend on a functioning nature, natur&ëmwelt added.
In the run-up to the Agricultural Fair in Ettelbruck, natur&ëmwelt therefore launched a new appeal to the government to use nature conservation as an opportunity for agriculture. According to a scientific study, nature conservation measures are necessary in at least 25% of the agricultural area to halt the loss of biodiversity.
In the context of the structural change in agriculture and the changing consumption habits of society, nature restoration offers an important source of additional income for agriculture and thus strengthens the resilience of agriculture and society as a whole, natur&ëmwelt concluded.
