Greenpeace campaign

Citizens expose soil erosion dramas

In the spring, the NGO Greenpeace called on people to submit bad examples of soil sealing in Austria.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Greenpeace)

The whole country is suffocating under concrete - this impression is reinforced by hundreds of examples of soil sealing.

With a pure eco-heart, Greenpeace - as reported - called on people throughout the country in the spring to name particularly bad examples of sealing throughout Austria. So far, almost 400 nominations have been received for the ironic "Austria's nine concrete treasures" campaign. In their opinion, the activists have compiled some particularly shocking examples for the "Krone" (see graphic).

You can view the examples here.

Floods and droughts
"The many submissions - from the so-called Vorarlberg tunnel spider in Feldkirch to the Traboch cattle breeding center in Styria and Vienna's Matzleinsdorfer Platz - prove that the citizens are fed up with concreting over," concludes Greenpeace soil protection expert Melanie Ebner.

Especially as the consequences of the uninterrupted sealing of green spaces are increasingly reflected in floods and droughts because there are fewer and fewer areas for seepage.

Dramatic new calculations paint a clear picture: according to them, 330,000 hectares of agricultural land such as fields, meadows and pastures have been built up in just 30 years. Once again, hail insurance director Weinberger is trying to turn the tide by urging politicians to ensure that food supplies are not lost.