Nature Conservation; Biodiversity Consulting

The Urban Nature Working Group (AK) is dedicated to promoting biodiversity in the city. We are currently sponsoring public green spaces to transform them into blooming paradises for wild bees, butterflies, and people. We also support individuals who want to help public spaces right outside their front doors bloom by sharing our expertise in ecology and gardening.

Our Urban Nature Working Group brings together volunteers dedicated to nature in the city and full-time staff members of the City of Erlangen. We look forward to working with other residents to create and enjoy blooming diversity in the city.

Let’s get started—Orchards for Everyone!

“Orchards for Everyone” is the name of the Bavarian Orchard Pact’s grant program, which supports private individuals who want to plant fruit trees. Subsidies are available for the purchase of standard fruit trees (trunk height of at least 140 cm). The following fruit types are eligible for funding:

pome fruit (apple, pear), stone fruit (plum, cherry), walnut, quince, wild fruit (e.g., service tree, wild cherry). You can find more information on the funding guidelines here.

As a municipality, the City of Erlangen can submit the funding application to the Office for Rural Development. We will compile the requests from interested residents.

The best time to plant fruit trees is from late October through late November. If you’d like to plant this year, simply contact us by September 15, 25, with your requests! Requests received after that date will be consolidated next year in time for the 2026 planting season.

Scattered Orchards in Agriculture

Farmers who wish to plant or maintain fruit trees can apply for grants, for example, through the Cultural Landscape Program ( KULAP) or the Contractual Nature Conservation Program ( VNP). Click here for the KULAP and VNP funding guide.

Scattered Orchards in Erlangen

The Bund Naturschutz’s Orchard Working Group maintains a large orchard in Atzelsberg with 400 trees and approximately 100 varieties. This year’s first harvest event will take place there on September 12 and 13, 2025. Some of the fruit will be processed on-site using a juicer. Interested volunteers are always welcome. If you’d like to participate, you can contact the Streuobstwiese Working Group through the BN office at erlangen@bund-naturschutz.de. You can find more information about the project here. The State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation also manages orchard meadows in our region and welcomes interested volunteers.

Cultivating Diversity for Our Future

If you’d like to plant your own orchard and are wondering which varieties would be suitable, it’s best to ask fruit growers in your region about their experiences. A visit to the Bund Naturschutz’s Streuobstwiese Working Group might be helpful. Upon request, we can provide you with lists of varieties that offer an overview of regionally proven varieties and their characteristics. An interesting variety directory was compiled as part of the “A Thousand Fruit Trees for the Franconian Alb” project. In addition, we recommend the extensive fruit variety database maintained by BUND Lemgo. It’s important to note that, due to climate change, the ripening dates listed in the literature actually occur up to 14 days earlier today. This varies from region to region and also depends on the microclimate of the specific location.

Orchard Management – Tree Health and Biodiversity

Proper care of standard-stem fruit trees is a challenging cultivation technique that anyone can learn. There are various approaches to this. Today, the Oeschberg-Palmer pruning method is widely used in the orchard community. If you want to care for a fruit tree effectively, you need to know how to best support the tree during its various life stages. You can learn to understand the tree. To do this, you have to observe it closely. Each variety behaves slightly differently. The location also has a major influence. For those who want to “get in touch” with their trees, we recommend the fruit tree care courses offered by the Streuobstinitiative Hersbrucker Alb e.V. In addition, the Adult Education Center (VHS) of the City of Erlangen offers fruit tree pruning courses .

Mowing meadows is another way to promote tree health and biodiversity. Ideally, the meadow should be mowed with a bar mower or scythe, and in sections at different times. The areas beneath the tree canopies can be mowed and mulched two to three times a year. Mulching helps nourish the trees and maintain soil moisture in the summer. In the fall, the mulch should be removed. Mowing in sections creates structural diversity and ensures a supply of flowers throughout the season. This benefits numerous insect species and all animals that feed on insects, such as birds and bats. The greater the biodiversity, the healthier the entire ecosystem. This helps prevent fruit pests from getting out of control.

If you want to allow grazing on your orchard meadow, you must protect the trees from browsing damage with appropriate fencing. Horses and goats are not suitable for grazing on orchard meadows.

Biodiversity in Orchard Meadows

Orchard meadows are generally managed without herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, or synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. As a result, this complex habitat of trees and meadows can provide food and/or nesting sites for more than 5,000 animal and plant species. The State Association for Bird Protection highlights some typical species found in orchard meadows.

Enjoying Orchard Fruit

An apple is ready to pick when the stem breaks easily when bent. Many varieties must first be stored to reach their optimal ripeness. One way to tell when an apple is ready to eat is that the seeds are no longer light in color but have turned brown. You can find interesting fruit recipes, for example, at the Middle Franconia Landscape Conservation Association.

Drinking orchard fruit juice also supports orchard cultivation and biodiversity. Ask at your favorite beverage store or organic market for orchard-grown fruit juices! In addition, local nature conservation organizations or farmers occasionally offer juice from their own orchard meadows. The old varieties are generally particularly healthy because they contain many polyphenols. These varieties are usually safe for people with allergies to eat as well. BUND Lemgo offers helpful tips and a list of varieties for people with apple allergies.