Berufswege in der Umweltplanung
On 16 and 17 October 2014, the Institute for Environmental Planning held its third environmental workcamp with Master's students. This time it took place in cooperation with the Ökologische Station Mittleres Leinetal and NABU Laatzen in the Südliche Leineaue near Hanover.
The meeting place was the nature conservation centre "Alte Feuerwache" of NABU Laatzen. Here, the 25 students, led by Dr Stefan Rüter and Carolin Galler, first gained an insight into the nature conservation projects on site. A special focus was on the cooperation of local actors in the care of protected areas. As in previous years, the focus in 2014 was on practical work. On both days, work assignments lasting several hours took place in the adjacent nature reserve "Leineaue zwischen Ruthe und Koldingen". On an area of about 4,000 m², the students carried out maintenance and development measures to preserve valuable open ground areas. Emerging woody plants were cleared and grass and shrub growth on existing sand banks and gravel areas was removed. Several large trees had to be felled to reduce shading of the areas. The measures are intended to promote rare and in some cases highly endangered animal and plant species that depend on the biotopes with little vegetation. These include the Loamy Sandpiper (Bembidion fluviatile), a species of ground beetle threatened with extinction throughout Germany, and the Wryneck (Jynx torquilla), a bird species threatened with extinction in Lower Saxony, which breeds regularly in the area. In addition, plant species such as the tufted carnation (Dianthus armeria) or the quender-leaved sandwort (Arenaria serpyllifolia) are to be promoted in the nature reserve "Leineaue between Ruthe and Koldingen".
The work assignments were extremely successful and the good mood among the students could not be dampened even by intermittent rain showers. The participants received a special confirmation at the end of the environmental work camp when representatives of the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of the Hanover Region visited the area with great enthusiasm and expressed their thanks to the students for the nature conservation work they had done.
