Ecology and environmental protection student Anna reports on her internship semester at the Östliche Oberlausitz nature conservation station.
What do we use sheep's wool for? And where does it come from? Anna has been investigating these and similar questions over the past few weeks as part of her practical semester on the Ecology and Environmental Protection course at the Östliche Oberlausitz e.V. nature conservation station. She has been working intensively on the topic of "marketing sheep's wool".
Here, on the edge of the biosphere reserve, I not only deal with the potential of wool as a raw material, a unique natural fiber that deserves more attention, but also support the team at the nature conservation station in landscape conservation, environmental education and various species protection projects, such as monitoring the amphibian protection fence.
The nature conservation station is currently unable to get rid of the wool from the more than 300 moorland sheep(Ovis aries (ammon) f. aries) that maintain the landscape in the Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve every year. According to Regulation EC No. 1069/2009, wool is a Class 3 animal by-product, i.e. it falls under the category of hazardous waste and must be disposed of at a charge. To draw attention to the problem of wool marketing, MDR Sachsen came to us for an interview. Click here for the article
I think it's great to find out which interest groups the topic of sheep's wool appeals to and to find solutions to make the raw material wool attractive again in the future with the help of various institutions. After all, nature conservation doesn't just start on the meadow with its great biodiversity (as we have in the biosphere reserve), but much earlier.
