Drover Heath
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Drover Heath
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| location | Kreuzau and Vettweiß , Düren district , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany | |
| surface | 598 km² | |
| Identifier | DN-008 | |
| WDPA ID | 344645 | |
| FFH area | DE-5205-301 | |
| Geographical location | 50 ° 44 ' N , 6 ° 32' E | |
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| Setup date | 2005 | |
| Framework plan | Landscape plan Düren | |
| administration | Lower landscape authority of the Aachen city region | |
| particularities | EU bird sanctuary " Drover Heide " | |
The Drover Heide is an approximately 600 hectare (ha) large nature reserve in the Düren district in North Rhine-Westphalia .
It lies in the communities of Kreuzau and Vettweiß . The NRW Foundation has been the owner of the site since April 2016 .
Soil conditions
The terrain is a slightly inclined floe in the system of Rurscholle and -graben . The western parts are the highest. This is where the loess layer is thinnest and is flooded in the small hollows with waterlogging . The land is not very suitable for arable farming, but served as forest pasture and common land or later as a military training area .
Military training area
The Drover Heide served from 1914 as a training ground for the garrison in Duren, or for their recruits training in the First World War . It was confiscated in 1951 as a military training area and used by the Belgian armed forces previously stationed in Düren and also used by German locations in the area. The area was opened to the public after their withdrawal at the end of 2004 and can now be accessed on marked paths. Overall, the area was used militarily for about 100 years.
description
About 120 hectares of the total area are accounted for by the actual heathland, 290 hectares in forest areas, 150 hectares are fenced in and are grazed by cattle and goats so that the heather is kept short ( decussing ). In addition to Scottish highland cattle are goats , like the Thuringian Goat , particularly suitable, the birch , heather and juniper to keep short.
The area is a habitat for rare plant and animal species. It is therefore a recognized FFH area and thus included in the network of the European Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (FFH). 460 fern and flowering plants were found here. 21 dragonfly species live around the 700 or so small wetland habitats that had formed through military exercises such as tank drives or digging work. At arthropods 17 different grasshopper species and 38 butterfly species known. Two further representatives of threatened (FFH) species are the crabs Branchipus schaefferi and Triops cancriformis , which in Germany can be found almost exclusively in the temporary puddles on (former) military training areas.
The Drover Heide is also designated as an EU bird sanctuary " Drover Heide " according to the European bird protection directive . So far, more than 130 bird species have been observed, 12 of which are endangered native birds and 25 are endangered guest bird species. Of these, goat milkers , woodlarks and red-backed killer are particularly protected by the EU bird protection directive.
The Ellebach rises on the east side of the Drover Heide, at the Pferdskopf, and flows into the Rur after 33.6 km near Jülich . The Drover Bach rises on the west side near Thum, and after a short run it flows into the Rur near Kreuzau; nevertheless he had the strength to run a mill in front of Kreuzau.
An archaeological peculiarity is the Drover-Berg-Tunnel , which was laid out in Roman times and which led water from a spring in the west through the geological clod of the Drover Heide to the east .
Nature conservation / maintenance measures
The Drover Heide belongs to Natura 2000 with the area number DE-5205-301. The Drover Heide has been part of the Hohes Venn-Eifel Nature Park since 2020
The conditions mentioned make the heath a refuge for endangered animal and plant species. Many Red List species exist here. In order to protect the heather and prevent it from developing into a wood, the areas must be cared for regularly. The biotope care measures include extensive grazing (grazing by sheep) and de-bushing measures ( de-puddling ).
In addition to the usual de-bushing measures, biotope maintenance through fire is also carried out in the Drover Heide. These measures, scientifically supported by the MPI Freiburg , show good results in practice and imitate natural fires after, for example, lightning strikes.
See also
List of nature reserves in the Düren district
literature
- The Drover Heide - a jewel on the doorstep , Biological Station in the Düren District eV, in the yearbook of the Düren District 2007, Verlag Hahne & Schloemer, Düren, ISBN 3-927312-77-0 .
Web links
- Site plan and directions (PDF; 1.09 MB)
- Drover Heide on the homepage of the Biostation Düren (PDF; 979 kB)
- Nature reserve “Drover Heide” (DN-008) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.nrw-stiftung.de/news.php?nid=373
- ↑ http://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/dueren/duerens-garnison-1914-moege-kein-misston-die-freude-stoeren-1.874636
- ↑ https://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/dueren/der-naturpark-nordeifel-reich-nun-bis-in-die-boerde_aid-48307391
- ↑ Fire Ecology Working Group at the MPI Freiburg