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Potsdam (dpa / bb) - In Brandenburg forests, wind turbines for the expansion of eco-energy may continue to be built.
A large majority of the state parliament voted on Wednesday against the demand of free voters for a legal ban on wind turbines in the forest.
"Since Brandenburg is one of the five federal states with the largest proportion of forest in the state, regional planning is dependent on the forest as a potential area for wind use," said Energy Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD).
Only 1.8 percent of the Brandenburg forest area is approved for the use of wind energy.
Protected areas are taboo, it is about commercial forest.
The parliamentary manager of the Free Voters in the state parliament, Christine Wernicke, considers the danger from wind turbines for the forest to be greater than that from climate change.
"The forest can only fulfill its function as a climate service provider by prohibiting the construction of wind turbines in the forest."
The construction of wind turbines should therefore be prohibited in the Forest Act.
The Thuringian state parliament decided in December last year that the construction of wind turbines in forest areas is prohibited.
The Protection Association of German Forest Brandenburg does not reject the forest as a location for wind turbines.
If part of the income from wind energy flows into the necessary forest conversion, more would be achieved with wind turbines in harmless locations in the forest than with a prohibition law, said chairman Gregor Beyer.
In addition, the distances between wind turbines and forests that are worth protecting should be regulated.
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The German Wind Energy Association Berlin Brandenburg emphasized that wind energy contributes to forest protection.
There are opportunities for pine monocultures, and at least one new tree is planted for every tree that is felled.
The mixed forests are more resistant to pests, heat or drought.
Additional lease income from wind energy supported the forestry in order to finance the forest conversion.
About 37 percent of the land area of Brandenburg is forest, which is around 1.1 million hectares according to the Environment Ministry.
The report on the state of the forest for 2020 showed that the forest in Brandenburg is not doing well for the third year in a row because drought and heat are causing tree deaths.
According to figures from Deutsche Windguard, Brandenburg was in second place nationwide in 2020 with the construction of 238 megawatts of additional wind power.
According to the wind energy agency, Brandenburg had 3890 wind turbines in 2019, 320 of them in the forest.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210127-99-195051 / 2
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Motion of the BVB / Free Voters parliamentary group
Deutsche Windguard on the expansion of wind energy in 2020