Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

Projects Bog Conservation at Mürmes Species conservation and environmental protection benefit from another NABU project for the renatura- tion of bogs along the Mürmes in the Eifel region. Werner & Mertz provides financial support for this proj­ ect as compensation for its own CO 2 emissions. Although the EMAS-certified company uses regenerative energy sources for its new headquarters in Mainz and its production site in Hallein, corporate activities still emit CO 2 and affect the environment. Bogs are enormous CO 2 sinks and the habitat of many rare plants and animals. The objective of our project with NABU was to suppress growth of trees and bushes in order to improve conditions for low-growing mosses, grasses and flowering plants typical of bogs and allow the bogs to return to their natural state. Furthermore, with drainage ponds we restored the harmony between the bogs and the adjacent cultivated fields. Runoff from neighboring farms transported nutrients from agricultural fertilizer into the bog. Water is retained in drainage ponds for a few days to allow a portion of the water’s nitrogen to degrade naturally. Then the “cleaned” water can go flow back into the bog. The bog conservation project was successfully completed at the end of 2015 to make way for a new project. LIFE-Project: Hunsrück-Hochwald The Hochwald National Park is a valuable nature conservation area. The dominant ecological system is the park’s large bogs. Road construction, draining and deforestation, however, led to significant changes and sometimes to the loss of bog habitats. The creeping disintegration of the peat was one of the conse- quences. Peat binds the CO 2 from the atmosphere and thus makes an important contribution to climate protection. The EU LIFE project “Restoration and conservation of sloping and transition mires in low mountain range Hunsrück (area Hochwald)” pursues the goal of reactivating the valuable wetlands so that flora and fauna typical of a bog can resettle here and stop the disintegra- tion of the peat. LIFE-Nature is an EU funding program for nature conservation meas­ ures. The main objective is to conserve diversity in plant and animal species and to halt the loss of species through targeted conservati- on measures. Werner & Mertz works with NABU Rhineland-Palatina- te on this project. 90