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Petition with 11,000 votes: Save the martins of Biblis!
Animal protection groups are fighting against the demolition of the cooling tower in Biblis, home to 800 house martins, to ensure their continued existence.
Petition with 11,000 votes: Save the martins of Biblis!
There's a lot going on in the Biblis region: animal protection groups are putting their foot on the brakes with regard to the demolition of the cooling tower of the decommissioned nuclear power plant. As fr.de reports, the activists have submitted a petition with almost 11,000 signatures to stop the surprising decision. In recent years, the cooling tower has established itself as an important breeding site for house martins and as such provides habitat for around 800 of these protected birds.
The situation is serious because the energy supplier RWE has already started demolition work. Animal protection organizations warn urgently that the loss of the cooling tower will not only result in the loss of the habitats of these small flies, but will also massively endanger the future of the house martins. In addition, the new alternative breeding grounds that RWE is creating are more than questionable. According to conservationists, the new shelters, up to eight meters high, are not sufficient and automatically expose the birds to predators, endangering the colony's reproduction.
A desperate call to action
“We can’t just stand by and do nothing,” explains Florinde Stürmer, spokeswoman for the wildlife protection organization. She sharply criticizes RWE for its “irresponsible ignorance of the location situation”. It is irresponsible to sacrifice the martins' habitats without taking into account the existing legal requirements for compensatory measures.
In short: other cooling towers at the nuclear power plant have already been blown up three times, and now the last one is in the firing line of the wrecking ball. The house martin is considered endangered in Germany and its conservation status is classified as unfavorable from a national perspective. It sounds alarming when you consider that the cooling tower houses the majority of the house martin's 423 breeding nests, as wildtierschutz-deutschland.de explains.
Demands for alternatives
The ongoing actions against the demolition have already resulted in an objection procedure against the demolition permit. In the latest development, animal protection groups are expecting a quick decision from the building inspectorate, which may ensure that the 11,000 votes for the swallows still have weight in the debate.
The fate of the house martins at the Biblis cooling tower hangs in the balance. The outcome of this matter could influence not only the swallow colony, but also the entire discussion about the value and protection of habitats in Germany. It remains to be seen what decisions will be made in the coming days and weeks.