Over the past few months, the fruit trees around the Kalbenberg (Erfweiler/Ehlingen, Wolfersheim, Ballweiler and Herbitzheim) have been successfully "mucked out" by a regional specialist company.
The purpose of the measure is to preserve the orchard meadows typical of the local region, as these not only characterise the landscape of the Bliesgau biosphere, but are also home to over 5,000 different animal and plant species, making them a "hot spot" of biodiversity.
Without such measures, the orchards will disappear and the landscape will change dramatically as a result. At the same time, the habitat of animals and plants around the villages will develop to their disadvantage. The breeding grounds of the little owl, for example, should be mentioned here. Without well-tended orchards, the little owl will inevitably disappear from the Bliesgau biosphere.
The same applies to many other bird species, insects and plants. All those responsible and participants in the "Preserving the orchard meadows" project agree that "removing the mistletoe" and then keeping the trees free of further mistletoe is a huge nature conservation project. The measure was supported by the LAG Biosphere Reserve Bliesgau and 85 per cent of it was funded by LEADER funds from the EU and Saarland.
The project is organised by the Saarpfalz district with the support of the Saarland/Rhineland-Palatinate Association of Horticultural Associations. Following the "mistletoe removal" work, it is essential that interested, committed citizens are found in the villages who, in the interests of sustainability, check the trees every one to two years and continue to keep them free of mistletoe. Naturally, this is accompanied by a request to the respective property owners to support this work. "The Saarpfalz district will continue to keep an eye on this urgent issue within the scope of its possibilities and support the largely voluntary players on site," said District Administrator and Chairman of the Biosphere Association Dr Theophil Gallo.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Dirk Hussung (e-mail to [email protected]) or the Saarland/Rhineland-Palatinate Association of Horticultural Associations (e-mail to [email protected]).