Green all over

Intact ecosystems in which native species of flora and fauna can thrive have become a rarity in Germany. Fortunately, however, there are also lots of people who are committed to the conservation and reconstruction of such areas. Stefanie Krohn of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Wasserwerksgesellschaft (RWW) has long been a committed conservationist and thanks to her work at the Haus Ruhrnatur in Mülheim has close ties to the Naturschutzbund (NABU), a German nature conservation organisation.

And it was she who had the idea for a project devoted to the protection of native species – a project which has since then been successfully put into practice. At the end of February, Stefanie Krohn and twelve other helpers got down to the job of planting new plants on a plot of land which NABU has leased at Kocks Loch. “The hedge of native species of shrub provides cover for innumerable birds and insects as well as screening off the site from the neighbouring plot, which is sometimes used for recreation,” explains the project’s initiator. Until Krohn came along, the plot was pure pastureland and as such of no particular value to native flora and fauna.

The plants were purchased with funds from RWE Companius.