Bastau meadows

information sign

Bastau

Bastau meadow with stork's nest

The Bastauwiesen are a nature reserve in Minden , Hille and Lübbecke . With around 1,802 hectares, it is by far the largest nature reserve in the Minden-Lübbecke district and one of the large wetlands in North Rhine-Westphalia and is listed under the designation MI-003.

location

The eastern border of the Bastauwiesen nature reserve is formed by the K 10 district road in the Minden districts of Hahlen, Königstor and Dützen. In the west, the area merges into the Großes Torfmoor nature reserve . The northern border is the Mittelland Canal . The river Bastau , which gives the area its name, represents the southern border.

meaning

The existing bog here was dismantled for burning peat . These cleared areas were then initially used extensively for agriculture. After a phase of intensive agricultural use, more and more areas were available for nature conservation in the Bastau valley area from the beginning of the 1970s. By placing it under protection, the communities and habitats of wild plants and animal species can be secured and expanded within the large-scale complex. The nature reserve has today again a high ecological value of supraregional importance. The original character of the cultivated landscape, which was characterized by low marshes, is being gradually restored. The white stork is now breeding in the area again.

The Bastau meadows are also of supraregional importance due to their function in the biotope network together with the Weseraue nature reserve as a connecting axis between the Steinhuder Meer and the Dümmer . As breeding, feeding and migration areas for the bird world, they are part of the EU bird sanctuary " Bastauniederung ". In addition to widespread bird species, around 30 endangered species live and breed in the Bastau meadows. These include corncrake , marsh harrier , curlew and whinchat and little grebe , reed warbler , teal and shoveler .