Gravel pit near Baumbach

Gravel pit near Baumbach IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
The gravel lake is framed by a closed wooded bank line in which willows dominate with their branches protruding far into the water.
location	North of Baumbach , municipality of Alheim in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg .
surface	22.96 hectares
Identifier	1632026
WDPA ID	164074
Geographical location	51 ° 2 '  N , 9 ° 40'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 1 '49 "  N , 9 ° 39' 56"  E
Sea level	179  m
Setup date	March 1995
particularities	Special protection as a nature reserve .

The gravel pit near Baumbach is a former gravel extraction area in the Fulda floodplain in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district of Hesse . Renaturation and design measures were carried out while the gravel was being excavated, with the aim of designing the bank areas in such a way that diverse biotopes can arise. In order to permanently protect this area, which offers birds breeding grounds, stepping stones and feeding habitats , the water with its banks has been designated as a nature reserve.

Geographical location

The Kiessee is located north of Baumbach , a district of Alheim in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district. The protected area, located in a Fulda loop, is bordered to the west by Kreisstraße 68 to Niederellenbach .

In terms of nature , the area is assigned to the “Rotenburger Fulda Valley” in the “ Fulda-Werra-Bergland ” of the “East Hessian Bergland” .

Protected position

With an ordinance of March 7, 1995 of the regional council in Kassel, the "gravel pit near Baumbach" was declared a nature reserve. With the protection, the gravel excavation with its bank areas should be permanently protected as a breeding, resting and feeding biotope for numerous bird species as well as a habitat for rare and endangered plant and animal species and further developed through suitable care measures. The protected area has a size of 22.96 hectares, has the national identifier 1632026 and the WDPA code 164074.

The floodplain near Baumbach is part of the "Auenverbund Fulda" nature reserve.

The protected area is located completely in the conservation area "Auenverbund Fulda," belong to the surfaces along the Fulda in several counties. The purpose of the protection of the area designated in 1993 is the preservation of the meadow and bank vegetation types characterized by different levels of moisture penetration, as well as the restoration of near-natural sections of water by converting arable land into extensively used grassland.

The sanctuary

After the gravel mining and renaturation work were completed, alluvial forests have settled on almost all vegetation-free banks.

The renaturation and redevelopment measures began as early as the time when the gravel deposits in the river bend were still being exploited. In cooperation with the gravel mining company and the nature conservation associations , the bank areas were shaped in such a way that diverse habitats can develop. The area purchased as part of compensatory measures for interventions in nature and the landscape through the construction of a new railway line was given flat banks, bays, shallow water zones and islands. In the course of a few years, the cleared areas could be designed according to a regeneration plan. The work was supervised by members of the Hessian Society for Ornithology and Nature Conservation .

The design measures were not without success. With its diverse shallow water zones, the area has become an important breeding, feeding and resting place for birds. By 2003 65 bird species could be detected. With twenty-two species protected according to the Birds Directive, the nature reserve achieved a top position among the approximately seventy observation areas in the central Fulda valley.

After the gravel mining and renaturation work had been completed, a riparian forest developed on the banks and on the islands . With the disappearance of the vegetation-free zones, the previously numerous resting waders left the protected area. Because silting areas with reed beds and a floating leaf zone are also missing, only a few waterfowl still breed under the protection of the branches of the willow bushes that protrude far into the water .

The migratory and resting birds that are still frequently found include the little grebe , gray and great egrets , cormorants , goosander , tufted pochard and pochard , osprey , sandpiper and kingfisher .

The nature reserve is looked after by the Hessian Forestry Office Rotenburg and volunteer workers from nature conservation.

Tourist development

The Fulda cycle path , also called Hessischer Radfernweg R1, runs from the Baumbach sports field to Heinebach past the north-eastern tip of the protected area. Here an observation tower had invited to watch the bird world. After it burned down completely on a July night in 2018, a view of the water surface is only possible to a limited extent.

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 , p. 177 f .
• Heinrich Wacker: Brief explanations of the excursion to the "Fuldaaue" as part of the ringed plover conference on October 2nd and 3rd, 1993 in Bad Hersfeld. In: Vogel und Umwelt, magazine for ornithology and nature conservation in Hessen . tape 8 , Issue 1-2, June 1994, pp. 83 f .

Web links

Commons : Nature reserve "Kiesgrube bei Baumbach"  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Lothar and Sieglinde Nitsche, Marcus Schmidt: Nature reserves in Hessen, Volume 3 . Pp. 177 and 178.
2. ↑ Classification of natural areas according to Otto Klausing in the Hessen Environmental Atlas at atlas.umwelt.hessen.de ; accessed on December 18, 2019.
3. ^ Ordinance on the nature reserve "Kiesgrube bei Baumbach" of March 7, 1995 in the State Gazette for the State of Hesse, edition 13/1995 of March 27, 1995, p. 1086 f.
4. ^ "Kiesgrube bei Baumbach" in the world database on protected areas; accessed on December 18, 2019.
5. ^ Ordinance on the landscape protection area "Auenverbund Fulda" of January 28, 1993 in the Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse, edition 4/1993 of March 2, 1993, p. 56 f.
6. ^ "Auenverbund Fulda" in the world database on protected areas; accessed on December 18, 2019.
7. ↑ Heinrich Wacker: "Kiesgrube bei Baumbach" with a short explanation of the excursion to the "Fuldaaue" in Vogel und Umwelt , Journal for Ornithology and Nature Conservation in Hesse, Volume 8, Issue 1–2, pp. 83 f. Wiesbaden, June 1994.
8. ↑ Information from the information board on the nature reserve "Kiesgrube bei Baumbach".
9. ↑ "The observation tower on the R 5 cycle path burned down - the fire brigade quickly deployed" on the osthessen-news.de website; accessed on December 18, 2019.