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Mainz (dpa / lrs) - For their contribution to the preservation of species-rich meadows, goat and sheep keepers in Rhineland-Palatinate receive an annual premium of 20 euros per grazing animal.
The state provided a total of 1.5 million euros a year for this, said Environment Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) on Saturday when a shepherd visited the Cochem-Zell district.
With the initiative, Rhineland-Palatinate is going its own way, after the demand for a nationwide grazing animal premium has not yet been met.
There are currently around 80,000 sheep and goats in Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Minister visited a pilot project run by the Rhineland-Palatinate Nature and Environment Foundation and the Cochem-Zell district administration.
Since April 2019, the hiking shepherd Steffen Carmin has been making sure with 250 sheep that the landscape is not covered with bushes and that valuable biotopes with endangered plant species such as the meadow primrose and the male orchid are preserved.
Animal species such as the blue-winged wasteland insect and the heather grasshopper also need open meadows.
This means that the project is “an important component of sustainable nature conservation,” said Spiegel.
The shepherd can graze more than 100 hectares annually with his natural lawnmowers
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The number of ewes in Rhineland-Palatinate fell by half between 1995 and 2017, from 100,000 to 50,000. "With the grazing animal bonus, we want to set an example and support the economic existence of sheep and goat keepers", said Spiegel.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210130-99-233580 / 3