Dürrenstein wilderness area

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In the wilderness area, trees are allowed to reach their natural age

The Dürrenstein wilderness area, or in the future the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal wilderness area, is home to one of the largest primeval forests in Central Europe , the so-called Rothwald in Eisenwurzen in Lower Austria in the southern part of the Scheibbs district . It is a wilderness area (IUCN Ia + Ib) according to the guidelines of the World Commission on Protected Areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources  (IUCN-WCPA). In July 2017, the Dürrenstein wilderness area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

location

Dürrenstein wilderness area with planned expansion and buffer zones
Deadwood, which is largely absent in commercial forests, is the basis for a large number of living beings that only occur here and were first described here

The Dürrenstein wilderness area is located in Lower Austria and today borders directly on Styria . It extends around the Dürrenstein and is home to numerous rare animal and plant species. It is primarily a forest reserve, but extends beyond the tree line out and is also home to alpine grass and rocky areas and pastures . Numerous alpine species live in this protected area, from the alpine salamander to the owl , the lynx and the golden eagle . People only have access to guided themed hikes and marked climbs and hiking trails.

Emergence

The idea of saving large forests, which were untouched by humans, from forest access and destruction for himself and his posterity, was initiated in this area in 1875 by the entrepreneur and banker Albert Rothschild . 400  hectares of forest in the core area, the Rothwald , have never been managed for forestry purposes and thus form a real primary forest that has developed largely undisturbed since the Würm Glaciation (the last glacial period ). On the basis of the Rothwald, the protected area was expanded to 2400 hectares 120 years later and the Dürrenstein wilderness area was established between 1997 and 2001.

The wilderness area serves to protect endangered organisms and communities. However, no specific condition should be preserved, but rather natural processes should largely take place without human influence ( process protection ). The recognition as the first wilderness area in Austria in category I according to the criteria of the World Conservation Organization IUCN was awarded in 2003. It covers 23.7 km 2 , with about half (western part) belonging to category Ib (wilderness) , the eastern part with about 4 km 2 of the Rothwald was designated as category Ia ( Strict Nature Reserve  Ia, Strict Nature Reserve). The wilderness area thus forms a buffer zone around the jungle. In August 2010 the wilderness area was expanded by 72 ha.

In 2013 the area was increased by a further 1,000 ha (10 km²) to a total of 3,500 ha (35 km²).

In autumn 2013 committed Styrian entrepreneurs initiated an expansion of the existing wilderness area towards Styria so that the minimum area of ​​10,000 ha recommended by the IUCN is achieved. Only from a wilderness area of ​​approx. 10,000 ha remains Biodiversity get saved and environmental processes can natural drain. Your goal is to put the Styrian Lassing valley out of use. In Lassingtal the oldest large-area are beech forests of the Alpine arc and the local forests can make a major biodiversity high deadwood have share. The land owner of the Lassingtal is the Österreichische Bundesforste AG , which is solely owned by the Republic of Austria . In October 2015, the Styrian state government finally led the procedure for declaring the Styrian Lassingtal with approx. 6,500 hectares to the wilderness area according to the IUCN guidelines. However, in January 2017 the negotiations between the state of Styria and the federal forests failed because no financial agreement could be reached.

cooperation

The Dürrenstein wilderness area cooperates with the Upper Austrian Kalkalpen National Park and the Gesäuse National Park in the “Natural Forest Network”, the aim of which is to establish a cooperation platform that also includes landowners, communities and other decision-makers. This is intended to connect the habitats of different species existing in the protected areas by means of near-natural stepping stone surfaces that are created through contractual nature conservation in the project area between the protected areas. The three cooperating protected areas have put together the NaturWaldWeg together with the alpine associations, which connects the protected areas with one another.

Surroundings

Also worth mentioning are the Rothschild houses, typical forest houses of the region, which are located in the wider area of ​​the Dürrenstein wilderness area.

See also

Picture gallery

  • Spruce-fir-beech forest

  • In the Rothwald

  • View of the Hundsau

  • In the Rothwald

  • Alpine salamander in the dead wood

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Thomas Rossacher: Styria knights for the title of world natural heritage. The almost untouched Lassingtal (Wildalpen, Liezen) is declared a wilderness area by the government. In 2016, this primeval forest will be part of Austria's first world natural heritage site. In: kleinezeitung .at . Kleine Zeitung GmbH & Co KG, October 13, 2015, accessed on October 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ Dürrenstein wilderness area becomes UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7, 2017, Austria Press Agency , accessed on September 12, 2017
  3. ^ A b Günter Pilch: Styria is now becoming a primeval forest area . In: kleinezeitung .at . Kleine Zeitung GmbH & Co KG, May 20, 2015, accessed on June 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ Extension of the Dürrenstein wilderness area signed! ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: wildnisgebiet.at . Dürrenstein Wilderness Area Protection Area Management, February 12, 2013, accessed on November 13, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wildnisgebiet.at
  5. ↑ Portrait - History [of the wilderness area Dürrenstein] ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: wildnisgebiet.at . Dürrenstein Wilderness Area Protection Area Management, accessed and received on August 20, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wildnisgebiet.at
  6. ↑ Jakob Traby: Styrian Forest should remain wilderness . In: krone.at . Krone Multimedia GmbH & Co KG, May 20, 2015, accessed on June 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ No agreement: wilderness area moved a long way off , from January 12, 2017, Kronen Zeitung , accessed on September 12, 2017
  8. ↑ Negotiations about "primeval forest" failed , from February 9, 2017, Der Ennstaler, accessed on September 12, 2017
  9. ↑ a b Nature and culture as potential for the region . In: netzwerk-naturwald.at . Nationalpark OÖ Kalkalpen Ges.mbH, accessed and received on August 24, 2016.
  10. ↑ A great goal together . In: netzwerk-naturwald.at . Nationalpark OÖ Kalkalpen Ges.mbH, accessed and received on August 24, 2016.
  11. ↑ Unique natural landscape with a great history and the project area Network Natural Forest (PDF file, 294.67 KiB). Both in: netzwerk-naturwald.at . Nationalpark OÖ Kalkalpen Ges.mbH, accessed and received on August 24, 2016.
  12. ↑ The NaturWaldWeg . In: nationalpark.co.at . Nationalpark Gesäuse GmbH, June 25, 2015, accessed and received on August 24, 2016 ( alternative URL with publication date ).

Web links

Commons : Wildnisgebiet Dürrenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 47 '  N , 15 ° 3'  E