At the OLGA partner meeting in autumnal Tharandt, we were creative: we painted, cut and pasted for all we were worth. The goal: What optimal land use do you imagine? Admire the selection of exhibits that were created.

Of course, we also worked on the side and discussed possible forms of planting and managing agricultural wood and sounded out the need for cooperation and communication in this regard. Possible "real laboratories" for the OLGA implementation phase are successively figured out.

We also gained an insight into the laboratory work of the woody plant physiology research group and learned how roots of poplar clones are scanned and then analysed, for example, in terms of their length and volume. In doing so, conclusions can be drawn about root growth under certain conditions within the first 60 days after the cutting is placed in the ground. We were also instructed in the software in which the terrestrial laser scanning of the agricultural wood study plots in Klingenberg-Colmnitz and Peickwitz is analysed and modelled.

The online panel discussion of 9th September 2021 is now also available on Youtube (in German):

Europa am Morgen #5: Der Green Deal und die sächsische Landwirtschaft

The regional supply of food has long been an important part of urban-rural relations in Europe. However, due to the globalisation of agricultural systems, cities are hardly fed from their surrounding countryside anymore. In addition, biodiversity in our landscapes is declining enormously, for which agriculture is seen as the main culprit. Also in Saxony. So how do we get back to regional cycles, to more nature and diversity in agriculture? The European Green Deal adopted by the EU promises a turnaround back to regional production and food systems and a stronger integration of nature conservation and agriculture. In our online discussion, we examine the package of measures for its potential to strengthen regional value-added structures, forms of sustainable land use and ultimately regional cooperation between urban and rural areas. In doing so, we explicitly take a look at the situation in Saxony.

On the podium:

Robert Gampfer is responsible for climate and environmental policy at the EU Commission Representation in Germany.

Bernd Laqua is mayor of the municipality of Bennewitz in the Wurzener Land. The non-party mayor is in office in his second term until 2027.

The event was supported by the projects WertVoll and OLGA.

Within the framework of OLGA, Marie Herzig and Lena Schwarz, students of TU Dresden, determined the potential for agrowood to improve the ecological condition of smaller waterstreams in the City of Dresden and the surrounding districts. 

In order to achieve the goals of the European Water Framework Directive, the significant reduction of substance inputs into watercourses is imperative. For the most part, such substance inputs are caused by erosion from intensively farmed areas. The establishment of agroforestry plantations as buffer strips between fields or grassland and watercourses can relieve the watercourses of substances and enhance the ecological value of the riparian zone. In addition, agroforestry plantations contribute to agricultural value creation.

The presented work serves as a first assessment of the area potentials for agricultural wood on arable land, grassland and brownfields in the Dresden region. After carrying out the analysis, 3,302 areas within the study area come into question for the establishment of agrowood plantations. These have a total area of 13,296 ha, which corresponds to a share of 9.6 % of the total grassland, arable land and fallow land in the study area. It is noticeable that most of the areas have the minimum size, i.e. they are rather small. On average, the area size is 4 ha, with the largest potential area being 33 ha.

Optimally, plantations should be established on special agricultural sites or fallow land so as not to compete with land used for food production. Moreover, agroforestry structures are a valuable climate adaptation measure to reduce increasing extreme events in the the Dresden region.

Download link (German)

On 10 June 2021, the German Bundestag decided, based on an amendment, to include woody plantations on arable land AND on grassland in the funding. This is a decisive step that will make it easier for farmers to integrate more biodiversity-promoting and climate-adapted measures on their land. And the animals can look forward to more shade and less wind! We are also pleased about this decision.

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