Danube-Networkers
Interview with Roland Maier
Interview: Monika Pfiszter and Paula Schweinberger
Pictures: Brigitte and Michel Nguyen-Duong
Summary
(full version of the interview is in german)
Mr Roland Maier has been working for a long time voluntarily as ecological commissioner in his club "friends of nature Ulm" in nature conservation and as environmental attendant of the city of Ulm. The local press reports continuously his activities. He guides nature watching and takes pictures of nature at the danube In these functions he was honoured by the government of the county and by the city of Ulm.
Asked about his background and motivation, Mr. Maier tells us about the encouragment of his father and its friends. They were engaged in the club "friends of nature" too and organized beautiful walking-tours for the young people around the danube and its water reservoirs. Thus Mr. Maier warmed up to his engagement for nature already as young man and other hobbies had to step back. Nowadays he invests 600 hours per year of his time for his studies, observations, statements and controls.
Positive and negative results take turns. A great success was the achievement of nature protection for a stillwater reservoir "Gronne" in 1972, until today it is the only place protected in Ulm. Another success was settling again into the region of Ulm the common tern, a kind of sea swallow. This bird is on the red list and had been regarded as completely lost. Since 1996 until now Mr. Maier and his friends managed to establish a population of 14 pairs. Of course these endeavours absorbed long year, many efforts and much patience.
It is a great desire of all engaged nature protectors to motivate the city of Ulm to buy land in order to regenerate nature in protected cells. This is a task for the community, a farmer has naturally other interests and cultivates nature economically. The city of Ulm is interested, but not enough. The greatest enemy for nature and its protectors these days is man's natural phlegm, the urgency of these tasks is generally undercharged by the public view..
Mr. Maier ist supported in his acitivities by the members of his club and other nature protecting organizations like Nabu or Schwäb. Albverein, also by the city of Ulm.
The pictures of Mr. Maier show the eggs a moorhen with green feet, also in danger of extinction The bird had used a burned ship at the river bank for breeding, unfortunatily without success because of floodwaters Another picture shows the kingfisher, a bird well known, but now rarely seen because of the change in our watercourses.
Mr. Maier hopes for the future:
People should be more and more sensible how endangered the nature of our immediate surrounding is. That is the only possibility to find enough supporters to protect our landscape and to secure future sightseeing of nature und recreation nearby.
Of course it is also the duty of the community and the city of Ulm to support engaged persons and to establish the general survey and to raise the necessary funds. Mr. Maier is aware of the the citie's engagement as good, but of course he hopes for more.
