Agricultural areas in danger: Greenpeace demands better protection in Austria!

Agricultural areas in danger: Greenpeace demands better protection in Austria!

A current analysis by Greenpeace shows alarming defects in the protection of agricultural areas in Austria. This investigation based on a study by the Ministry of Agriculture makes it clear that the protection of agricultural areas in the federal states varies greatly. While some federal states have taken measures, there are no protection precautions against installation in other regions such as Upper Austria and Carinthia.

The daily loss of almost 16 soccer fields on nature and agricultural areas in Austria illustrates the urgency of the problem. Carinthia and Upper Austria perform particularly badly in the Greenpeace analysis, because here there is a lack of extensive designations and effective protection. It is also required that the federal states implement legally binding protective measures for these valuable areas.

inadequate protective measures

Greenpeace has created a ranking of the federal states to draw attention to the different protective measures. Federal states such as Salzburg and Vorarlberg took the first steps towards protection, but binding regulations are still missing. In Burgenland, Tyrol, Styria, Lower Austria and Vienna, on the other hand, there are nationwide protected agricultural areas, but they only protect a small part of the actually important areas.

Currently around 400,000 hectares are protected in Austria, which is far below the required 2.75 million hectares for secure regional food production. Greenpeace therefore demands the rapid and binding designation of protected areas from the federal government and the countries.

land use in Austria and Germany

In order to understand the context, it makes sense to look at the use of land in Austria compared to Germany. In Germany, the total area is around 357,682 km² in 2023, with 50.3% of this area being used for agriculture. This corresponds to a decline of 51.1% since 2016. The forest content is 29.9%, and areas for settlement and traffic are constantly increasing, especially in urban compression rooms.

In Austria, on the other hand, it can be seen that the stress of agricultural areas through urbanization and other uses have a lasting impact on the surface use and the environment. The negative development in the agricultural areas is not only a local, but also a problem for society as a whole.

political demands

Greenpeace requires the federal government to implement a promised reduction path for soil consumption in order to achieve net-zero consumption by 2050. This is a demanding but necessary measure to ensure nutritional security in Austria and the region.

Overall, the analysis of Greenpeace shows how important the protection of agricultural areas is for food production. This topic is reinforced by the current developments in land use in Germany and Austria. A quick need for action is therefore not only desirable, but essential for the future of our food supply.

For more information about the land use structure in Germany, you can read the article of the Environmental Bundesamt . You can also find details on soil use on the website of the Statistics Austria .