Biotopes
Legally protected biotopes
Biotopes are habitats for wild animals and plants. They can be found, for example, in forests, along bodies of water, on meadows and open land, but also on open spaces in urban centres. Many biotopes are important for the protection of animals and plants and the preservation of biodiversity. Biotopes also play an important role in the landscape, the climate and the water balance.
More and more biotopes are disappearing, being increasingly destroyed or impaired due to the intensification of land use and the consumption of land for building. For this reason, particularly valuable, rare or endangered biotope types have been included in nature conservation legislation as legally protected biotopes. This protection applies directly by law.
A comprehensive ban on alteration applies in legally protected biotopes. All actions that could lead to destruction or other significant or lasting impairment are prohibited (Section 30 (2) of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and Section 21 of the Saxon Nature Conservation Act). The previous lawful use or management is not restricted.
The following biotopes are legally protected in accordance with Section 30 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and Section 21 of the Saxon Nature Conservation Act:
- Natural or near-natural areas of flowing and standing inland waters including their banks and the associated natural or near-natural vegetation along the banks as well as their natural or near-natural siltation areas, oxbow lakes and regularly flooded areas,
- Bogs, swamps, reedbeds, sedge meadows, wet meadows rich in sedges and rushes, spring areas, inland salt marshes,
- open inland dunes, open natural boulder, rubble and scree slopes, clay and loess walls, dwarf shrub, broom and juniper heaths, bristle grassland, dry grassland, heavy metal grassland, forests and scrub in dry and warm locations,
- quarry, swamp and alluvial forests, ravine, boulder and slope debris forests, subalpine larch and larch-pine forests,
- open rock formations, caves and near-natural tunnels, alpine grasslands, snow valleys and krummholz scrub,
- cliffs and steep coasts, coastal dunes and beach embankments, beach lakes, lagoons with siltation areas, salt marshes and mudflats in coastal areas, seagrass meadows and other marine macrophyte stands, reefs, sublittoral areas, reefs, reefs and submarine forests.reefs, sublittoral sandbanks, mudflats with boring bottom megafauna and species-rich gravel, coarse sand and shingle beds in marine and coastal areas,
- lean lowland meadows and mountain meadows according to Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC, orchards, stone bars and dry stone walls,
- lean fresh and mountain meadows,
- hollow-rich old wood islands and hollow-rich individual trees,
- serpentinite rock meadows, tunnels of former mining ponds and hollow paths.
List of legally protected biotopes in the city of Chemnitz in accordance with Section 30 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and Section 21 of the Saxon Nature Conservation Act
As of January 2024, around 1,365 biotopes are known to exist in the city of Chemnitz. These are registered in an official biotope register.
Due to their highly dynamic nature, there are biotopes that can emerge or change over time. The only thing that matters is the actual state in nature. The biotope register is therefore only declaratory in nature and is not exhaustive. Biotopes that are not or not yet included in the biotope catalogue are therefore also subject to legal protection.
Further information
