Let's imagine a ridiculous scenario: A conservation organization begging a public broadcaster to show them how said organization complains about the spread of a plant officially listed as "invasive". They go on bemoaning the spread of this plant due to cows avoiding them, forcing the org to dig them out by hand which they have given up at this point, so instead they demand to make the sale of this plant in "hardware stores" illegal.
The plant in particular wasn't planted by ordinary citizens, it actually profits off grazing, and the organization in question is neither 501(c)-type nonprofit nor as interested in conservation as in the development of a relatively new tourist attraction. And the spread of this invasive plant occurs exclusively on a ski track.
It sounds utterly bizarre until you notice that this scenario isn't one of my surreal dreams that occur after some particular ASMR or ambience videos; this currently is happening in the Thuringian Forest:
Feel free to use any translator of your choice to notice how even my public broadcaster mixes up terms and opinions whilst implying that this organization they can't even name properly are some sort of experts regarding "mountain meadows". The organization in question, "Naturpark Thüringer Wald e.V.", manages various spots in the Thuringian Forest and is far from pleased by the spread of large-leaved lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) on the "Hochplateau Knüllfeld" near Steinbach-Hallenberg.
The shots provided by MDR clearly show that this area is rather far away from local gardens, excluding the possibility that local gardeners accidentally contributed to its spread several kilometers away from this town. A trade ban of this lupine thus wouldn't do anything to combat its spread (and anyone who's ever bought plants from such a store know that they're horribly over-bred to the point they die without spreading after one to, at the very best, seven to eight years depending on the species - shops and breeders want to make money, after all).
The large-leaved lupine is noted as having been intentionally planted near streets, particularly Autobahnen, to make up for the destruction caused by the construction of new streets. However, the next Autobahn is located, at its closest spot to the East, two kilometers away from the Autobahn 71 - the "Hochplateau" is five kilometers away from it. That also rules out careless infrastructure planning.
But what's right next to this spot? A ski lift:
Taking a closer look at the satellite shot provided by Google, it also becomes apparent that this area isn't entirely "managed" by cows alone, in fact large parts are regular fields by local farmers with visible trails created by farmers and their tractors (and whatever they like to put on the backs of their tractors, don't force me to translate "farmer speech").
Let's get back to the big-leaved lupine. It spreads - and this is where everyone in this story, including the English Wikipedia, is lying - via its roots on landscapes that are being mowed and grazed (= intensively used) regularly, thus being a similar profiteer of grazing practices like tall oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) and orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), both of which become easily dominant and endanger other local plants on pastures in particular.[4] This lupine, on the other hand, is also relatively popular among farmers due to its soil-enriching qualities and popularity among certain pollinators such as bees. And they really are nice to look at, if we're being honest for a second - this may be more relevant than you may think when you take into account that a lot of so-called meadows are nothing but species-poor pastures in Germany. The vast majority of them resemble suburbian lawns throughout most of a given season and tend to take the largest hits during droughts, effectively being nothing but hay fields, and wet years, where pastures on the verge of overgrazing become large pools consisting of (almost) nothing but mud.
Since this organization blames the private trade of this plant without attempting to establish its DNA (as stores almost exclusively sell over-bred hybrids) whilst managing an area that is a popular skiing spot during winters, what is up with "Naturpark Thüringer Wald e.V."?
Well...
Just a few years ago, they demanded €8,000 from each of its 50 member municipalities to cover "unpaid management costs", which none of them followed suit. This prompted the org to calculate costs based on the population size of each municipality, with one ending up being forced to pay a fee of €10,000, instead of the previously agreed €750. Considering that they do not even own the cows that supposedly graze the Hochplateau and only got six employees overall, three municipalities have debated on a possible end to their respective memberships.[1]
In another case, this org tried to promise yet-another-loyality-type-card specifically for tourists supposedly covering all museums and attractions across the entire state of Thuringia. This plan ultimately failed due to this org not being eligible for nonprofit funding.[2]
Indeed, the primary goal of "Naturpark Thüringer Wald e.V." is the development of the tourist industry in selected parts of the Thuringian Forest, alongside other economical developments.[3]
So, let's recount:
There's an organization blatantly engaging in greenwashing to maintain and further develop a growing skiing and hiking spot for tourists and blame a spreading plant that is actually good for insects but considered "bad" by them for reasons not even international botanists can verify or disprove because this plant is not being studied and even its Wikipedia entry largely consists of anecdotes of bus drivers in New Zealeand apparently having handed out seeds to impress tourists.
And this organization isn't even a legal nonprofit. And demands 400k for their "work" which largely consists of living out their PowerPoint fetishism.
Let's not even adress the fact that their annual reports aren't even remotely complete, leaving out the costs generated by employing six people, their PR endeavors and most of their "managed" areas. And they STILL have the nerve to regularly approach out local TV station because they love to see themselves being talked about by our press.
This is why nothing is improving. Fucking scammers.
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[1]
[2]
[3]
(see section "Aufgaben")
[4]
I should clarify that this is entirely based on my observations within my own region. Most grasses on pastures, due to the amount of grazing and mowing, do not spread via its seeds, as those often do not even develop before they are being removed. Instead those capable of it engage in "vegetative spread" underground, with its roots continuing to grow, splitting from the original plant and developing new ones. This is particularly pronounced in areas lacking species such as the lined spittlebug (Neophilaenus lineatus) that feed on such grasses and pretty much soak them dry to the point of wilting and dying when confronted with a large amount of such grasses and thus cause its population to "explode" over time - in fact, due to most cicades being considered a pest it's being killed by farmers with pesticides. While not considered "endangered", which is likely because of farmers that do not desire them, I did not encounter this species prior to 2024 at any point; they did not exist near my village before the intensive grazing of Z I abruptly stopped during the pandemic and two wet years followed the drought of 2022.
There are far more observations that easily debunk the most popular theories used by conservation projects as justifications for their actions (and even when their projects backfire as spectacularly as in Oostvaardersplassen) but it's difficult to sort them all properly without dropping a bunch of insults directed at ecologists and "green" organizations in-between the facts just because they don't take their time to simply observe and learn; just straight into action just to maintain their unsustainable careers.