By Julia Dahm
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“Agriculture can make a significant contribution to flood phenomena,” Matthias Meissner from the NGO BUND told EURACTIV Germany.
“Above all, the storage capacity of soils and the reduction of surface runoff from heavy rainfall are important here,” he explained.
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“Large bare fields are far more prone to erosion in a storm that those surrounded by windbreaks, hedges, other permanently planted features, or divided into alleys by tree lines,” he told EURACTIV.
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NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe, meanwhile, is calling for more consistent reinforcement of the existing law on the observance of buffer strips along water courses and protected areas, for example with regard to the “observance of good professional practice and soil protection in the cultivation of agricultural land.”