Josef Göppel

Josef Göppel was born on 16 August 1950 on a small farm in the Franconian village of Rauenzell near Ansbach. He grew up with a strong attachment to the land and became a forester. He worked as a forestry engineer for 28 years – mostly outdoors. Göppel is married and has four daughters.

In 1972, he became involved in the local politics of his home region. After eight years in the Bavarian State Parliament, he was  elected directly to the German Bundestag in 2002. All his political activities  focus on living and working in harmony with nature.

Göppel has been the head of the CSU’s environmental working group since 1991, and has played a significant role in shaping the party’s environmental platform. Within the party, he has a reputation as a sometimes difficult and persistent unconventional thinker. The media regard him as the green conscience of his party.

As a forestry engineer, in 1986 he founded the Land Care Association of Middle Franconia. His aim was to overcome the bitter divisions that existed at that time between environmentalists and farmers. The initiative became a success, and today there are 155 Land Care Associations in 14 German Länder, with equal representation of farmers, conservationists and local politicians. Göppel has been head of the German Association for Landcare since 1993. The network Landcare Europe was founded at EU level in 2016.

In the mid-90s he joined the International Eco-Social Forum and worked on the Global Marshall Plan Initiative.

In 2005 he founded the Renewable Energies Network in the Middle Franconia region together with business representatives, craftspeople and scientists. In 2014 this led to the creation of the Franconia Regional Electricity cooperative, which aims to sell electricity directly to those in the immediate vicinity of the production sites. 

He stood firmly by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015, when her generous policy of receiving Syrian refugees came under harsh criticism from the CDU and CSU. 

A key cross-party initiative in the German Bundestag can be traced back to Göppel: members of government and opposition parties joined forces in the Future Forum on the Environment, where they made the case for more sustainable environmental policies.

In the Bundestag elections, Göppel’s personal votes have far surpassed the second votes for his party every time; in 2013, the figures stood at 53.3 percent to 47.6 percent. 

An outsider’s view proves revealing – the following text appeared in the local press after an appearance at the Nürnberger Presseclub:

"Göppel is a true conservative. He wants nothing more than to preserve creation. The CSU Member of the Bundestag approaches politics through the lenses of his Christian faith and his long experience working with nature. He has been known to get on the wrong side of people, whether it be his fellow party members or supporters of conventional growth policies. He was the only member of the CSU to vote against generating electricity from nuclear power in Germany long before the start of the energy transition."

Political Career

•1972-2004 Herrieden town council

•1974-1994 Middle Franconia District Council

•since 1991 Chairman of the CSU environmental working group

•1986 founded the first Land Care Association 

•1994-2002 Bavarian State Parliament

•since 1996 Ansbach county council

•since 2002 German Bundestag

An article of Josef Göppel in the publication "Full of Life" - UNESCO Biosphere Reserve - Model Regions for Sustainable Development

Until the 1980s the concept of “landscape management” in Germany was largely geared towards biotope conservation. The unification of Germany in 1990 resulted in a more comprehensive outlook: the focus of landscape management was no longer just small undeveloped areas, but also extensive cultural covering thousands of hectares.

At the same time, regional competition was flourishing and a close connection between intact landscapes and a general tendency to invest became apparent. Good opportunities for leisure and distinctive cultural characteristics were important locational factors. Over-exploited areas and those which had been neglected, however fell behind in a regional competition.

Turning attention to what was happening in the regional economy brought landscape management out of its niche existence. Building a network of natural living spaces was to be the main priority from then on and, alongside this, an increasing number of initiatives were taken to produce and market typical regional products.

The Landscape Management Associations provided a new direction in terms of organisation. Above all, they quickly gained a foothold in areas with poor agricultural profits. Today, around 140 Landscape Management Associations operate in twelve of the 16 German Länder. Their key feature is the parity they encourage in decision-making between local politicians, the different occupations that work with the land and the executives of nature conversation groups. In practice, this fair and balanced approach creates a lot of trust and helps to settle conflicts on the spot.

The groups that work with the land include farmers and foresters, hunters, fishermen, tour operators, typical regional tradesmen and also people pursuing leisure activities, such as climbing or white water rafting. The motto of the Landscape Management Associations is to include all good ideas and exclude no one.

As a rule, the private associations are welcome for helpers for the government authorities. Like the associations for voluntary social work, Landscape Management Associations help to carry out governmental tasks.

Fifteen years of experience show that considerably more initiatives can be implemented through such action alliances than by the government working alone. Landscape Management Associations do not draw up plans. Their responsibility is to prepare run, control and render the accounts of concrete projects. Plans are not in short supply in Germany– the bottleneck occurs when they are being implemented!

Besides building a network of habitats for creatures living alongside humans and strengthening the regional added value, a permanent task of landscape management is to introduce people to the nature on their doorstep.

Many people are so wrapped up in the civilised world today that they almost fail to notice their surrounding landscape. The average German spends less than one hour a day in the open air. Television and the internet lead children to believe in a world in which everything seems possible.

However, even the best films can not replace the smell of a meadow in summer, the coolness of a shady running stream or an apple picked directly from the tree. If adults haven’t experienced real nature as children, it will be difficult to inspire them with enthusiasm about its conversation. This demonstrates the broad and rewarding areas of responsibility confronting the Landscape Management Associations.

Practical landscape management faces particular challenges in biosphere reserves. On the one hand, more accurate and specialist material is available and as a rule, there are better principles for planning. On the other hand, action taken must satisfy higher quality standards.

There are also differences in the working. The management of a Landscape Management Association normally is left on its own. However, when cooperation with a biosphere reserve as pecialist qualified administration is working by its side. This leads to more intensive preparation and follow-up controls of all stages of work. In short, specialist landscape management is a task of prime importance for the Länder in Germany. In comparison, all other political matters only fulfil a complementary function. Unfortunately, during times when finances are limited, commitment to sustainable development can wane. With the exception of the Länder Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Landscape Management Associations and Biological Centers still do not have a guaranteed financial basis.

In view of the uncertain professional financial future of many managers, their idealism is admirable. It is politically fair, however, to honour payments for the services provided by private associations that fulfil public duties.

For many men and women involved in the landscape and regional initiatives the political backgroundmust also be mentioned. They feel the pressure coming from globalisation to standardise all forms of life, language, clothing, food, building styles and leisure activities. People who have set themselves the goal of preserving the diversity of all living creatures are affected by this to the core. The ecological focus of the long-standing goal of landscape management to conserve diversity is suddenly taking on a cultural dimension. Is the balance between regional concerns and global economies successful?

The unlimited liberalisation brought about by world trade is increasingly criticised because it has broadened, not narrowed the gap between the rich and the poor. Regional initiatives counteract this to a certain extent. As a result of regional initiatives, people settle in well-defined cycles of life with an independent profile and thus contrast the people who live in the centralised industrialised word and are being deprived of their soul.

Josef Göppel

Goals of Landscape Management Associations

• To build an extensive network of natural living spaces to preserve foundations of life in all cultural landscapes in Germany.

• To provide agriculture with a reliable supplementary income form nature conversation and to support the marketing of typical regional products.

• To provide initiatives for an ecologically focused economy development and an environmentally friendly use of land. These should bring out the exceptional qualities and activate the strengths of the individual regions.

• To open eyes for the landscape on their doorstep and allow all levels of the population to experience real nature through targeted actions.

Source: German LandscapeManagement Associations (DVL), www.lpv.de


Special Report of the Federal Government Advisory Council of Experts on the Environment in 1996:

Concepts for a Sustainable Use of the Rural Environment

“Landscape Management Associations have proved to be effective organisations for putting the goals of landscape management and nature conversation into practice. (…) Integrating all groups affected has been a successful way of promoting acceptance and taking advantage of the wealth of expertise of all participants. (…) The German Advisory Council of Experts on the Environment recommends that Landscape Management Associations be institutionalised and supported in the implementation of regional land use concepts an communal landscape planning."