135 hectares of the 220-hectare airport area - i .e. more than 60% - is green space. These areas are managed with care: nature stays as it is, as long as it does not present a danger to flight operations. Because of this generous space for flora and fauna, wild meadows and bushes have formed a biotope that is rich in biodiversity. The airport land has been reforested with new hedges and copses, long grass and oatgrass meadows to improve air quality.
The current bird population in the area of Dortmund Airport displays great diversity: the site offers a home to 97 different species, some of which are threatened with extinction. Overall numbers fluctuate with the changing seasons, with high numbers of migratory birds, in particular, in late summer and early autumn.
As everyone knows, birds and aircraft can pose a threat to one another. We use the gentlest possible methods to keep birds out of areas that are important to flight safety. In these zones, for example, we avoid large areas of water, or use pyrotechnics to frighten birds away. When all else fails, some species need to be regulated by hunting. These measures always take place in cooperation with the Environment Agency of the City of Dortmund, the Dortmund Naturschutzverbund (Nature Conservation Society) and the Deutsche Ausschuss zur Verhütung von Vogelschlägen im Luftverkehr (German Birdstrike Committee).