Press release
dated 24.07.2025, No. 124
On-site appointment: Planned renaturation of the ZUK areas in the Loisach-Kochelsee moors
Key message: peatland protection needs reliable funding
District of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen/Benediktbeuern. The Tölzer Moorachse (TMA) steering group invited guests to the Loisach-Kochelsee moors on Friday, July 18, 2025. In addition to the District Administrator, Thomas Holz (Member of Parliament) and Anton Ortlieb, First Mayor of Benediktbeuern, were also present. The aim was to visit moorland areas where the restoration of the natural moor water level is planned.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier welcomed and emphasized that moorland protection works very effectively for climate protection with little funding. As the Free State of Bavaria is still a long way from achieving its goals in this area, joint social funding is essential, he said. He therefore appeals to politicians not to weaken cooperative nature conservation, but to continue to strengthen it. "Nature conservation and environmental protection must not be treated as subordinate tasks. They are a state objective - and they serve all citizens in Bavaria."
A pre-drained raised bog covering over six hectares was visited, which the Center for Environment and Culture in the Benediktbeuern Monastery (ZUK) was able to acquire two years ago with the help of state funding and an unrestricted donation from the Hans Weber Foundation. As soon as the state funding is made available, the ZUK intends to close the ditches there so that the rainwater is not quickly diverted away and the valuable moorland site is preserved and optimized in terms of biodiversity and climate protection. The ZUK hopes that sufficient funding will be available in 2026 to restore the moorland water level on the area presented.
Mire protection as a central part of the LNPR in Bavaria needs reliable funding
As a member of the state parliamentary committee for the environment and consumer protection, MdL Thomas Holz is particularly concerned about the preservation of nature in the Tölzer Land and the good cooperation between nature conservation and agriculture: "The members of the Tölzer Moorachse are successful in nature conservation. Through decades of close cooperation with the land users, the projects are prepared and implemented together. It goes without saying that a minimum level of financial resources must be available for this, and I am happy to support this, even though it is clear that many interests compete for these funds." Mayor Anton Ortlieb pointed out the great value of the moorland areas in the municipality for recreation and experiencing nature. He emphasized that farmers can also contribute areas for moorland restoration that they keep on their farms.
Although Harald Kühn, Member of the Bavarian Parliament, was unable to attend, he is also convinced: "The commitment of the Bavarian peatland managers to the conservation of peatlands brings multiple synergies and thus achieves a very positive response in society". There are now 20 peatland managers in Upper Bavaria working on the implementation of peatland restoration with the help of the LNPR. However, the moorland projects applied for in 2025 were only granted significantly less than a tenth of the required funding. Now the representatives of the Moorachse hope that sufficient funds will be provided in the next double budget of the Free State of Bavaria in the Landscape Conservation and Nature Park Directive (LNPR), the funding program of the Free State of Bavaria for nature conservation projects.
LNPR in Bavaria
In 2024, around 60 million euros in funding was invested in Bavaria via the LNPR for the implementation of moorland rewetting and other landscape conservation measures. According to a calculation by the German Association for Landscape Conservation (DVL), around 120 million euros per year will be needed for 2025 and subsequent years to continue this work and to come close to achieving the goals set by the state government itself - this applies to moorland protection as well as the preservation and optimization of other habitats (e.g. orchards). Walter Wintersberger, district chairman of the Landesbund für Vogel- und Naturschutz (LBV): "Our volunteers put in many hours of work to preserve the moors in the district. Funding is needed for owners to make their moorland available. Only then can we carry out work on these areas and preserve the rare animal and plant species on our moorland areas by raising the water level and maintaining open landscape areas. A large number of dragonflies, butterfly species, birds, bats, flowering plants, mosses and ferns can be found on the areas where we can work."
Bavaria's cooperative nature conservation: a proven concept
Alongside the Contractual Nature Conservation Program (VNP), the LNPR funding is the backbone of cooperative nature conservation in Bavaria. This model, which focuses on voluntariness and regional cooperation, has proven its worth over the years, confirms Benedikt Zangl, the farmers' representative on the TMA committee: "Discussions are sought with every owner. The open exchange between conservationists and farmers enables us to protect the moor. In times of global crises and scarce resources, nature conservation and environmental protection must not take a back seat. An intact natural environment is the basis of our existence, both today and for future generations."
Tölz district bears special responsibility
The proportion of moorland in the district is 12%. The district therefore bears a special responsibility for the success of the Bavarian moorland strategy. Rewetting is central to this. Walter Wintersberger (LBV) says: "Reliable cooperation with landowners, associations and authorities is a prerequisite for the success of moorland protection projects. Decades of cooperation in the Tölzer Moorachse and continuity in personnel are fundamental to this. If acquired knowledge and trust are not lost with a temporary project position, the bottom line is that more is saved. This is where the state government needs to get involved." The Free State, local authorities and associations are working together to achieve this. The main burden of financing lies with the Free State. Over the past 15 years, the district has spent €147,300 of its own funds on the purchase and lease for the hydrological restoration of moorland areas.
The Tölzer Moor Axis (TMA)
The TMA is an association of local nature conservation clubs and associations, representatives of the lower and higher nature conservation authorities, the district administrator and a representative of the farmers. For 23 years, the TMA has been working with landowners to develop concepts for local moorland protection, secure areas and implement measures. Members: District Administrator Josef Niedermaier, Benedikt Zangl as representative of the Bavarian Farmers' Association, Father Karl Geißinger and Joachim Strobel from the ZUK, Achim Rücker as representative of the Bund Naturschutz (BN), Sabine Tappertzhofen and Walter Wintersberger as office manager and chairman of the Landesbund für Moorschutz (BN) respectively. Markus Henning as Managing Director of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Landscape Conservation Association (LPV), the moor managers Florian Hartwich and Elisabeth Pleyl as well as Anne Nowottnick representing Vroni Feichtinger from the higher nature conservation authority at the government of Upper Bavaria and Franz Steger from the lower nature conservation authority at the district office. Together with the initiatives of the Bavarian State Forests, it has so far been possible to restore the natural moor water level on 372 hectares of moorland throughout the district. This saves around 6,700 tons ofCO2 per year.
LNPR funds reach people directly
Markus Henning (LPV) explains: "A large proportion of the LNPR funds flow directly to the local players, the farmers, landowners and regional service providers. This means that these funds are a regional economic factor. One of the cornerstones of nature conservation in Bavaria, which is based on voluntary action and cooperation, is that farmers receive payments from the LNPR funds as well as from the Bavarian contract nature conservation scheme for their work to preserve litter meadows and other species-rich grassland."
Nature conservation is a provision for the future
Not only do rare animal and plant species benefit from peatland protection, but the cooling of the regional climate, groundwater recharge and preventive flood protection also go hand in hand with the renaturation of peatlands. Peat decomposition, which is caused by microorganisms on dry moorland sites, is halted by the restoration of the moor water level. This means that considerably fewer greenhouse gases are emitted under wet conditions. The successful work to protect the moors in Bavaria has been steadily expanded over the past 15 years with the moor protection management of the Free State and should definitely be continued, says Achim Rücker, 2nd Chairman of the BN, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district group.
Father Karl Geißinger commented in the run-up to the event: "Preserving the moors strengthens the resilience of the natural foundations for which we are responsible. It strengthens the living environment, water, soil and atmosphere and thus local agriculture, recreational opportunities for us humans, quality of life and climate protection. State funding is a prerequisite for the implementation of this task for society as a whole.
Marlis Peischer
Press Officer / Head of the Press Office
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen District Office