Letting New Places Grow

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#Natur & Resourcen|  4 Min.

Letting New Places Grow

Great Compensation Projects, Such as the Ones in Hemmoor, Create an Enrichment for Nature and Society

Alexandra Brandt could go on and on about the remarkable port facilities in Cuxhaven. As a civil engineer, she has been co-responsible for the major developments at the port for years. At the same pace that new surface areas were developed in the port, she made sure that commensurate compensation areas were created. In her own words, this matter is near and dear to her heart. She shows us, why she feels this way in Hemmoor, a place, where a wetland meadow of some 30 hectares was reactivated as a diverse and colorful biotope.

In the summer of 2020, sheep were grazing here for the first time. The animals keep the grass short, which in turn is important to create a great habitat for breeding birds. Alexandra Brandt is excited about this progress. “The area needs sheep, but standard herds are too large. It was definitely not an easy feat to find a shepherd, who would agree to our requirements.”

When you listen to her, you can imagine that hardly anything about the implementation of such large compensation areas is easy. There are traditional interests of communities, farmers, and hunters that need to be considered. And then there are difficult soil characteristics that need to be ‘circumnavigated’. On top of that, you have the compliance requirements of the environmental protection authorities, and you also need to find lessees that are willing to participate. 

The development of compensation areas is one of the tasks of the Deputy Branch Manager at the Port of Cuxhaven. Nowadays, nearly half of the NPorts area in Cuxhaven is compensation area. In a radius of just 50 km, there were ten larger areas developed, where NPorts is dedicating resources for the renaturation of former agricultural land. Alexandra Brandt knows them all and checks on their well-being at least once a year.
 

 


Part of the compensation for Cuxhaven including Stade (2019) 

 

 

What is the driving force behind Alexandra Brandt's commitment towards these land parcels? “We are certainly not landscape gardeners, and I am curious, if the land will develop in the direction that we had envisioned. We plant nothing, but we will see to it that the plants that are intended to grow there can find conditions that are suitable for their growth.” In Hemmoor, this means that shallow ponds were created and that the drainage systems were removed so that the area can be submerged in water again. Even before the excavation works were completed, the first pewits started to settle in at this new wetland area.

“Compensation is a task full of responsibilities. We give back to nature those things that the necessary new construction at our port unfortunately took away. A good compensation project is no trade of indulgences, but rather an enrichment for nature and society”, Alexandra Brandt clarifies.  “We have implemented quite a lot within the past twelve years and we have established credibility that we really care about nature. These days, regional authorities and groups are approaching us, promote their projects, and see an important partner in NPorts”,

To her it is important that she also meets like-minded women and men at NPorts: “By now, everyone understands that compensation projects are not done, because you have to do them, but because they create an effect.”

Alexandra Brandt is, last but not least, also the Sustainability Commissioner for NPorts in Cuxhaven and plans with a long-term view. “The compensation areas must last as long as anything we build. And our port will outlast another few generations or more. That's why I advocate the creation of precious nature preserves that will be there for the long run. This way, we are making an important contribution to sustainability in its three dimensions (namely economic, environmental, and social), by gifting society those new places.”
 

 

 

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