Elaboration of interdisciplinary expert reports for the licensing of large-scale industrial projects and infrastructure projects

Special species protection assessments

Our services at a glance:

  • Specialist articles relative to species protection laws
  • Special species protection assessments
  • Elaboration of avoidance and minimisation measures for special species in addition to prioritised counterbalancing measures
  • Advice concerning planning and approval procedures

Stringent species protection regulations, based on European statutory provisions for the protection of species and their habitat entered for the first time into national law upon amendment of the German Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) in 2006. The regulations governing species protection apply to both direct protection of species in addition to the protection of their habitats. Here, the emphasis is on the conservation of populations as well as safeguarding of ecological functions. These habitats must be protected from encroachment, and permanently conserved with regard to their space and functions. The prohibitions relative to protected species that must be taken into account as part of the planning and approval process are listed in German law § 44 of the BNatSchG.

§ 44 para 1 nos. 1 to 4 of the German Federal Nature Conservation Act prohibits:

  1. The hunting, trapping, injuring, killing or removal of developmental forms of animals from the wild, as well as the harming or destroying of the species, in particular, those that are protected.
  2. The excessive disturbance of strictly protected animals living in the wild and European bird species during times of procreation, rearing, moulting, hibernation, and migration; significant disturbance exists if maintenance of the local population of a species is impaired as a result of the disturbance.
  3. The removal of, damaging or destroying the procreation or resting places of wild animals that are subject to special protection.
  4. The removal of vegetation that is subject to special protection or its developmental forms from a natural setting, harming or destroying it or its locations.

These statutory provisions make it necessary to bear in mind all matters relating to species protection during all planning and approval procedures. For this purpose, an assessment of the potential effects on animals and/or plants is necessary through a planned undertaking or project. To achieve this, Müller-BBM Industry Solutions GmbH can carry out assessments based on species protection law to ascertain whether the undertaking or project could be affected by application of the prohibition under German law §44 of the BNatSchG.

Should potential effects on species exist, we elaborate suitable measures to avoid and minimise impacts, and develop so-called counterbalancing measures pursuant to German law § 44 para 5 of the BNatSchG.

 

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