In 2014, the Black Forest National Park was founded as the first and only national park in Baden-Württemberg. The protected area extends over about 10,000 hectares between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt and consists of two sub-areas separated by about 3.5 kilometres. In its coalition agreement signed in May 2021, the green-black state government agreed to further develop the Black Forest National Park in terms of content and spatial development. A gap between the northern and southern parts is envisaged.
The further development of the national park offers opportunities on several levels. From a conservation perspective, a larger protected area provides more space for threatened animal and plant species and has a higher ecological resilience. In times of climate change and species extinction, larger areas of nature conservation value without human intervention are of high importance to enable process conservation. Further development of the area will also strengthen the role of the national park for recreation, tourism and education. Especially against the background of increasing visitor numbers, an expansion of the total area seems necessary so that nature conservation does not fall behind.
nexus, together with its subcontractor, polidia GmbH, has been commissioned with the planning and implementation of the accompanying public participation. In addition to a citizens’ forum with 50 randomly selected citizens of Baden-Württemberg, there will be two information events and six thematic workshops and guided tours. Furthermore, polidia will provide an information and participation platform on the internet, through which the opinions of interested citizens can also flow into the process.
Duration: 03/2022 – 07/2023
Client: Nationalpark Schwarzwald
Team: Nicolas Bach (Project management), Fabian Dantscher
Subcontractor: polidia GmbH
Photo: Leonard – stock.adobe.com