Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meißner district

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Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meissner district

IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area

From the plateau of the Meißner foreland there is a view of the Gobert protected areas.

From the plateau of the Meißner foreland there is a view of the Gobert protected areas.

location Werra-Meißner district in northern Hesse .
WDPA ID 555537561
Natura 2000 ID 4726-401
Bird sanctuary 483.43 hectares
Geographical location 51 ° 10 '  N , 10 ° 12'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 10 '5 "  N , 10 ° 12' 5"  E
Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meißner district (Hesse)
Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meißner district
Setup date 2004/2008
particularities Special protection for the eagle owl and peregrine falcon bird species .

Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meißner district is the name of a bird sanctuary in northeastern Hesse , near the border with Thuringia . With the designation of the tripartite protected area, the naturally created limestone cliffs, which rise from the wooded mountain slopes above the Werra and Ulfe valleys , were to be preserved and secured as breeding areas for peregrine falcons and eagle owls . Peregrine falcons and eagle owls are rock breeders here and only colonize the rock faces that are not overgrown by trees and offer them a free approach. They belong to the species for which special protection areas must be established according to the European Birds Directive .

The rock cliffs and other Hessian areas were proposed by the State of Hesse to the EU Commission in the early 2000s for the coherent network of European nature reserves Natura 2000 . The notification procedure was completed in 2004 and the legal safeguarding of the obligations resulting from the nature conservation directives took place in January 2008 with the "Ordinance on Natura 2000 areas in Hesse".

location

The three areas of the bird sanctuary are completely in designated nature reserves of the Werra-Meißner district . The northern sub-area is located in the “Hessian Switzerland near Meinhard” nature reserve, in the Hitzelrode and Motzenrode districts of the Meinhard community and the town of Bad Sooden-Allendorf . The eastern part belongs to the “ Plesse-Konstein ” nature reserve in the urban area of Wanfried and the southern area is in the “ Boyneburg and Schickeberg bei Breitau ” nature reserve , in the Grandenborn district of the Ringgau community and in the Breitau , Krauthausen and Wichmannshausen districts of the city of Sontra .

geology

From a natural perspective, the area of ​​the bird sanctuary is assigned to the north-western edge plates that surround the Thuringian Basin . These Muschelkalkplatten extend west to the Upper Eichsfeld and Hesse. The limestone rocks at the edge of the plate are considered to be geologically significant. Cliffs caused by landslides and mountain fall like crashes caused Muschelkalk should occur nowhere as common in Germany as in this area, which also includes the sub-units of the bird sanctuary Gobert , Wanfrieder Werra Heights and southern Ringgau belong. They are considered to be the largest active landslide areas in Hesse.

Rockslides or landslides can occur in times of high rainfall at the geological layer boundary between the Lower Muschelkalk and the Upper Buntsandstein below , which is called Röt . Rainwater seeps into the crevices and crevices of the shell limestone and meets the clay-red red which swells and can become fluid. As a result, the limestone above the red starts to move and becomes unstable. The rocky areas that come off move gradually down the valley on the pulpy red and create gorges . These enable increased seepage of precipitation , which accelerates the so-called mass displacement process. The last rock masses erupted in 1956 with the landslide on Schickeberg and in 1985 with the landslide on the northern slope of the Hörne.

Protected bird species

Peregrine falcon.
Eagle owl.

Peregrine falcon and eagle owl are among the bird species listed in Appendix I of the European Birds Directive , for which the establishment of special protection areas is planned. They are species that are viewed as threatened with extinction due to low populations, small distribution areas or their special habitat requirements. To protect them, the Birds Directive was created in the 1970s from the knowledge that wild birds are to be seen as a common heritage of the member states of the European Union and that effective protection is only possible across borders. The currently valid version came into force on February 15, 2010.

  • Peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcons regularly brooded in the Werra-Meißner district until the 1950s. In the 1970s they threatened to become extinct. In addition to human persecution, the main cause was DDT , which was still used as an insecticide in agriculture and forestry , which the falcons had ingested through the food chain. The lime balance of the birds was so disturbed that the eggshells became thinner and thinner and broke during incubation. During this time there were no more breeding sites north of the Main . After the DDT ban in Germany at the end of the 1970s, the Hessian Society for Ornithology and Nature Conservation (HGON), together with the German Falcon Order, started the resettlement of peregrine falcons raised in aviaries . It is regarded as the most complex and also the most successful program for a bird species that was carried out in Hessen. The reintroduction campaign began in Northern Hesse in 1978 at an orphaned breeding site on the Plessefelsen. Another hundred or so young falcons were released in the district area in the later years, up to 1992. Meanwhile the stock has stabilized. In his 2019 annual report, the bird protection officer of the Werra-Meißner district, Wolfram Brauneis, names around sixty territorial pairs in Northern Hesse, of which 42 pairs were successful in breeding and 114 brought young to fly. It was seen as remarkable that it was above all the structural breeders who used the peregrine falcon boxes and breeding bases on the ICE bridges of the railway and the power pylons who made the largest contribution to the success story.

  • Eagle owl

Since the late Middle Ages, the eagle owl has been hunted as a "harmful bird" to be fought. Due to the constant persecution, a Germany-wide inventory in 1934 showed only about seventy couples who had survived. The eagle owl was extinct in Hessen. The populations recovered through breeding programs, reintroductions and protective measures. In 1977 a pair of owls brooded again for the first time in Hesse and in 1983 also in the Werra-Meißner district. In the meantime a population size has been reached that allows the eagle owl to be removed from the local Red List of threatened bird species. In 2017, the number of large owls reached a peak in the district: 33 young eagle owls at 20 breeding sites were determined by the ornithologists and in 2019 19 successfully breeding pairs brought about 39 cubs to fly. For reasons of protection, the whereabouts and breeding sites are not published by the bird conservationists.

The partial areas

The rock of the "Salzfrau" over Hitzelrode.
The nationwide project for the reintroduction of the peregrine falcon was started on the Plesse rock face in 1978.
In the background the nature reserve with Boyneburg, Schickeberg and Erbberg (from left).

The three areas of the bird sanctuary are located on a limestone plate cut deep by the Werra and numerous side streams, the landscape of which is characterized by landslides, forests, dry grassland, grassland and fields.

  • "Hessian Switzerland at Meinhard"

The ridge of the western foothills of the Thuringian Eichfeld is known as the Gobert. It owes the nickname "Hessian Switzerland" to its alpine-looking relief with rocky eruptions, steep edges and slipped clods. The forest area in the border area of ​​Hesse and Thuringia was declared a nature reserve in 1989. The purpose of the protection was to preserve a landslide, limestone corridors, limestone swamps, grasslands , block debris forests and large-scale hardwood stocks with the flora and fauna native to them and to secure them for the long term. The nature reserve has a size of 244.60 hectares, the national identification 1636019 and the WDPA code 163663. It belongs to the fauna-flora-habitat area "Kalkklippen der Gobert" with the European area number 4726-350. The part of the bird sanctuary is located in the north-western area around Hörne ( 523  m ) and Hohestein ( 569  m ).

  • "Plesse-Konstein"

The nature reserve extends along the state border with Thuringia. It includes the forest areas of Plesse ( 480  m ), Konstein ( 455  m ) and the Gatterbachtal. In 1960, the Plesse and Konstein parts of the area were entered in the State Nature Conservation Book and thus placed under the protection of the 1935 Reich Nature Conservation Act, which was still in force . After several expansions, the protected area now has a size of around 190 hectares, the identification 1636002 and the WDPA code 7051. With the protection, the rock corridors, whose relict societies are considered to be of national importance from a botanical and geological point of view, should be preserved. The species-rich deciduous forest communities, the tufa deposits and calcareous sinter steps in the Gatterbachtal as well as the hut areas with their vegetation at the foot of the Konstein should be preserved and protected. The area of ​​the bird sanctuary around the Plessefelsen is located in the western area. The nature reserve is FFH area 4827-301 “Plesse-Konstein-Karnberg” and is part of the biotope network of the Green Belt .

  • "Boyneburg and Schickeberg near Breitau"

In addition to numerous smaller rock faces with rubble heaps, the bird sanctuary includes the “ten o'clock cliffs” and the landslide slope on the 498  m high Schickeberg, which are of great scientific importance because of their geomorphology and the colonization strategies of plants and animals to be followed here. Another purpose of the protection as a nature reserve was to preserve and promote the limestone corridors, poor grasslands and the hardwood-rich block rubble and hillside forests with the animal and plant species that occur there, some of which are endangered. The area first declared a nature reserve in 1966 now has a size of 249 hectares, the national identifier 1636004 and the WDPA code 81445. It is part of the FFH area 4926-350 of the same name. The neighboring bird sanctuary 4926-402 "Rendaer Höhe" on the Ringgau plateau is important for the bird species to be protected. It is an important hunting area for the peregrine falcon. As a bird hunter for flying specimens, he is dependent on free air space with a wide view. The eagle owl, which uses the Rendaer Höhe exclusively as a feeding ground, can also be found all year round.

Tourist offers

The rock cliffs are intended as undisturbed resting areas. The viewpoints on the premium hiking trails , which have been awarded the hiking seal of the German Hiking Institute for their high quality, offer observation possibilities . They mostly lead on narrow paths and natural paths through the nature reserves:

  • Premium path P 4 "Hessian Switzerland". The tour, which is around 15 kilometers long and classified as moderate, runs partly along the steep rocky edges on the edge of the Muschelkalk plateau. Rocks such as Silberklippe, Salzfrau, Pferdeloch and others offer views of the Werra Valley and over to the Hohe Meißner .
  • Premium path P 5 "Plesse". The nine-kilometer path climbs steeply from the Werra Valley to the Plessefelsen plateau. Relics of the German-German border history can still be found along the way .
  • Premium path P 13 “Boyneburg”. The 17-kilometer tour leads with a few ascents and descents to the listed ruin and the Ringgau plateau. The landscape is shaped by the alternation between forests, fields and meadow landscapes.

literature

  • Lothar and Sieglinde Nitsche, Marcus Schmidt: Nature reserves in Hessen, protect-experience-maintain. Volume 3, Werra-Meißner district and Hersfeld-Rotenburg district . cognitio Verlag, Niedenstein 2005, ISBN 3-932583-13-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ordinance on the Natura 2000 areas in Hesse of January 16, 2008. In: Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse, Part I, No. 4 of March 7, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Rock cliffs in the Werra-Meißner district". In: World Database on Protected Areas; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  3. ↑ Classification of natural areas according to Otto Klausing. In: Environmental Atlas Hessen; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  4. ↑ Marcus Schmidt: habitats and species. In: Nature reserves in Hessen, protect-experience-maintain. Volume 3, p. 23 f.
  5. ↑ a b Illustration from Johann Andreas Naumann's "Natural History of the Birds of Central Europe". Gera, 1899.
  6. ↑ Species protection provisions of the Bird Protection Directive In: Website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN); accessed on July 29, 2020.
  7. ^ A b Marcus Schmidt: Wildlife worth protecting. In: Nature reserves in Hessen, protect-experience-maintain. Volume 3, p. 53 f.
  8. ↑ a b The peregrine falcon in northern Hesse with information on the Uhubestand in the Werra-Meißner district. In: Annual Report 2019 ; accessed on July 29, 2020 (PDF; 8 MB)
  9. ↑ Profile of the EU bird sanctuary 4726-401 “Cliffs in the Werra-Meißner Kreis”. In: Website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN); accessed on July 29, 2020.
  10. ↑ a b c Sieglinde and Lothar Nitsche: Nature reserves in the Werra-Meißner district. In: Nature reserves in Hessen, protect-experience-maintain. Volume 3, p. 105 f.
  11. ^ Ordinance on the nature reserve "Hessian Switzerland near Meinhard" of April 28, 1989. In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse, edition 21/1989 of May 22, 1989, p. 1179 f.
  12. ↑ "Hessian Switzerland at Meinhard". In: World Database on Protected Areas; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  13. ^ Ordinance on the "Plesse-Konstein" nature reserve of December 22, 1997. In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse, edition 4/1998 of January 26, 1998, p. 306 f.
  14. ↑ "Plesse - Konstein". In: World Database on Protected Areas; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  15. ^ Ordinance on the nature reserve "Boyneburg and Schickeberg bei Breitau" of December 2, 1988. In: State Gazette for the State of Hesse, edition 51/1988 of December 2, 1988, pp. 2780 f.
  16. ^ "Boyneburg and Schickeberg near Breitau". In: World Database on Protected Areas; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  17. ↑ Profile of the EU bird sanctuary 4926-402 "Rendaer Höhe". In: Website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN); accessed on July 29, 2020
  18. ↑ Premiumweg P 4 "Hessian Switzerland" on the website of the Geo-Naturpark Frau-Holle-Land; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  19. ↑ Premiumweg P 5 “Plesse” on the website of the Geo-Naturpark Frau-Holle-Land; accessed on July 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ Premiumweg P 13 “Boyneburg” on the website of the Geo-Naturpark Frau-Holle-Land; accessed on July 29, 2020.