The German Federal Environment Foundation has honored the Green Belt conservation project with its yearly prize. Winner Kai Frobel tells DW how it all began - and how Korea may one day follow suit.
Kai Frobel: Yes, it is a great honor. I have been working with the Green Belt project for the last 42 years and helped to lay the foundations for the project as early as the mid-1970s.
How did this all come about?
My hometown is in the Coburg district, and it was surrounded on three sides by the GDR border - I could see the border from my window. I was interested in biology as well as ornithology. If I were to discover any rare species in the Bavarian landscape - which had already been mostly cleared due to intensive agriculture - they would most likely be found within this strip. A treasure trove of diverse species was locked behind this hideous border.
Kai Frobel stands by a plaque that marks the former East-West German border near MitwitzImage: BUND
So the border area could not be accessed during this time?
The strict exclusion area was on the eastern side of the border. There was even a separate restricted area behind it - only residents were allowed to enter.
But from the west, you could approach the barrier up to a distance of 50 or 100 meters [164 to 328 feet]. From this distance, a birdwatcher with binoculars could watch the birds courting one another on the border fence, and even listen to their singing.
Why were there so many birds there?
Because this was an area that had remained undisturbed for decades - nature essentially had been given a 40-year holiday! The species in the region used this opportunity. For example, we discovered that over 90 percent of the bird species that were rare or highly endangered in Bavaria - such as the whinchat, the corn bunting and the European nightjar - could be found in the Green Belt. It became a final retreat for many species, and it still is today.
A family of cranes runs along the Green Belt in Germany Image: Bund/J. Starck
What happened after the fall of the wall?
It was clear to us that that the land in this unique nature reserve would be under pressure for agricultural use. In the early years up until 1993, we lost around 2000 hectares in the Green Belt to agriculture. Biotopes which had formed over decades were destroyed by the plowshares within minutes. This is why, in December 1989, we organized the first all-German meeting between conservationists from the [former] East and West. At the time I chose to use the term "green ribbon."
And that was the beginning of the first comprehensive German conservation project - as well as the largest-over nature conservation project in the country. The Green Belt is 1,400 kilometers [870 miles] long - it is now Germany's longest biotope.
Aside from the rare bird species, what other animals and plants can be found there?
We now have over 1,200 species of animals and plants that are listed as endangered, or even close to extinction. These range from the arnica - a yellow medicinal flower - to the black stork, and the otter. There are also for example aquatic species like dragonflies and the European tree frog, which use the Green Belt during the winter.
The medicinal flower arnica can be found in Germany's Green BeltImage: Fotolia/Fel1ks
The Iron Curtain didn't just run through Germany, but also across Europe. How did the European version of the Green Belt project come about?
Hubert Weiger first had the idea in 2002. He coordinates the project with me as part of the Bund Naturschutz [BUND] and was also awarded the German Environmental Prize.
He first raised the idea of the European Green Belt at a 2002 event in the Eichsfeld with Mikhail Gorbechev. Now, 24 states and 150 conservation organizations throughout Europe are working on this incredibly fascinating project. It covers about 12,500 kilometers: from the pristine forests of Karelia, over Lake Neusiedl, down to the beautiful national parks in Macedonia.
Are there any other regions in the world that have a similar border region like Europe once did?
Yes, South Korea. Conservationists are already preparing a so-called Green Belt Korea, and are in close consultation with us. They are using Germany's Green Belt as its model for when reunification comes - even though the situation doesn't look too good at the moment.
This is the only region in the world that can be compared with Germany before 1989. We have had intensive exchange with the Ministry of Unification and nature conservation authorities in South Korea. Like Germany, the Korean Demilitarized Zone has a well-preserved, biodiverse habitat.
The isolation of the Korean Demilitarized Zone has created a natural haven for endangered animal and plant species Image: picture-alliance/D. Kalker
What are you most proud of?
That the Green Belt has not become a brown or a black belt. The fact that, in such a fast-paced world where every square meter is used, we have succeeded in preserving the Green Belt for more than 30 years.
Kai Frobel is a geo-ecologist and conservation expert at the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) in Bavaria. Considered the "father" of the Green Belt project, he was awarded the 2017 German Environmental Prize together with Hubert Weiger from BUND and Inge Sielmann from the Heinz Sielmann Foundation.
The interview was conducted by Brigitte Osterath. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.
From Iron Curtain to German Green Belt
Over a distance of 1,400 kilometers, the Green Belt marks the former inner-German border from Kühlungsborn via the Brocken to Mödlareuth. Unique nature reserves dotted with places of remembrance.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Eyes from above
The "BT11" in Kühlungsborn is a former East German border watch tower. From 1973 to 1989, Costal Brigade soldiers used to be on the lookout for escapees. Those looking to flee the communist country would try to reach the coast of Schleswig-Holstein or a passing ship from here. Today, the tower is a listed monument and one of the last surviving of some 70 such lookouts along the coast.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Migratory path
The former death strip along the East-West border has proven to be a stroke of luck for nature, even 26 years after the Iron Curtain was opened. The Green Belt between the Elbe Altmark marshes and the Wendland seems to magically attract migratory birds. Large flocks of geese, swans, ducks, and cranes stop and rest here every autumn on their way south.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
The Elbe riverscape
Ninety-five of the altogether 1,091 kilometers of the Elbe River used to be part of the exclusion area of the inner German border. Subsequently it has remained mostly untouched - like here near the village of Lenzen - making it one of the few surviving natural waterways. With its changing water levels, it forms the wetlands that make up the UNESCO-listed Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Border memorial
The main function of the East German blockade was to prevent citizens from escaping. This makes it different from other border posts, where guards would face outwards to defend against threats from the outside. In Hötersleben you can see some original parts of the border posts, including watch towers and anti-vehicle obstacles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Cycling along the Green Belt
This northern part of the Harz region is characterized by gently rolling hills from which the Grosse Fallstein emerges as a special vantage point. The 70-kilometer cycling tour along the Green Belt from Hornburg to Ilsenburg is particularly attractive. It leads past orchards, fields and chestnut-lined roads, and through untouched nature and the remains of former border posts.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Symbol of division and unification
Located on the former inner German border, the peak known as the Brocken was inaccessible to citizens of both West and East Germany during the Cold War and subsequently became a symbol of the country's division. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Brocken again became a center of interest and has drawn countless visitors since reunification.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Ring of remembrance
This symbolic memorial to mark reunification of both German states in Sorge close to Wenigerode is a circular area into which dead wood has been placed on a diameter of 70 meters. Artist Herman Prigann said that as this tree rampart slowly becomes overgrown with plants, it will encourage reflections on decay and growth.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Biodiversity on the former patrol path
The border post is all that remains of the former inner German frontier on the Warteberg by Nordhausen. In the shadow of the Iron Curtain along the former patrol path, habitats and refuges for rare animal and plant species have developed. Endangered species like orchids, black storks and large saw-tailed bush crickets have found safe retreats.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Borderland museum
The Borderland Museum Eichsfeld has been situated at the former Duderstadt/Worbis border crossing since 1995. Until 1989 nearly six million travelers used the border crossing between the villages of Gerblingerode in the West and Teistungen in the East. The history of German division is displayed over some 1,000 square meters. This includes former border security posts and frontier barriers.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
Mountain of dreams
During the Cold War, the Staufhain mountain and the village of the same name were located in an area that could only be accessed by border soldiers. The ruin was turned into an observation tower and listening post. The surrounding forest grew unhindered and soon it became a mountain of dreams. On December 3, 1989, the mountain was opened to visitors for the first time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Little Berlin'
Our tour of the Green Belt ends in Mödlareuth, a village of 50 people. American soldiers used to call it "Little Berlin," because, like its big brother Berlin, it became symbolic of Germany's division. Like in the German capital, the Thuringian-Bavarian Mödlareuth was divided until 1989 by a concrete wall that was 700 meters (765 yards) long and 3.4 meters thick.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
From death strip to life line
The Iron Curtain divided Germany and Europe for nearly four decades. Walls, barbed wire and watch towers separated families and friends. What was once separated is now united by nature. The Green Belt is the first pan-German nature preserve.
