Schwalm-Nette Nature Park
| Schwalm-Nette Nature Park | |||
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| Location: | North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany | ||
| Surface: | 435 km² | ||
| Founding: | April 16, 1965 | ||
| Address: | Schwalm-Nette Nature Park Willy-Brandt-Ring 15 |
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The Schwalm-Nette nature park is a 435 km² nature park in North Rhine-Westphalia on the border with the Netherlands . It is characterized by its variety of landscapes. As a regionally important local and weekend recreation area, its catchment area extends into the metropolitan areas of the Rhine and Ruhr as well as the neighboring Netherlands.
Geography and landscape
The Schwalm-Nette nature park extends along the German-Dutch border over a large part of the district of Viersen (274.05 km²), parts of the districts of Heinsberg (117.45 km²) and Kleve (34.8 km²) and a small area of the City of Mönchengladbach (8.7 km²).
The area between the Schwalm and Nette rivers shows a wide range of different habitats. In addition to forests , heather areas , wet meadows and fields, there is also an alder quarry and fens . The wetlands along the Nette, Niers , Schwalm and Rur are the habitat of species-rich flora and fauna and are of supraregional importance for nature conservation . Rare animals such as the kingfisher , grass snake and goat milker are at home here.
The scenic features of the nature park include, above all, the numerous lakes such as the nature reserve Krickenbecker Seen , the Hariksee or the Venekotensee as well as natural areas such as the Kaldenkirchener Grenzwald , the Elmpter Schwalmbruch or the juniper heather in Niederkrüchten .
Nature and landscape protection areas
The Schwalm-Nette nature park consists of 56 percent designated nature and landscape protection areas . 190 km² are designated as landscape protection areas and 55 km² as nature reserves. This clearly fulfills the requirements of the Federal Nature Conservation Act , which stipulates that nature parks must consist primarily of nature and landscape protection areas. Another 50 km² of the nature park are so-called FFH areas and 75 km² are designated as EU bird protection areas.
The Zweckverband
According to the law on communal community work in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Schwalm-Nette nature park is an association consisting of the districts of Viersen, Heinsberg and Kleve and the city of Mönchengladbach.
The tasks
Defined by the Landscape Protection Act , it is the task of the association to sustainably secure the flora and fauna as well as the diversity and uniqueness of nature and landscape. This includes the protection and maintenance of biotopes and landscapes as well as the development and renaturation of damaged parts of the landscape. Further aspects are the expansion and maintenance of facilities for recreational purposes and the natural and landscape information and educational work.
Association head of the nature park
The first head of the association when the nature park was founded in 1965 was the then Oberkreisdirektor (OKD) of the Kempen-Krefeld district , Rudolf H. Müller (1965–1984). On January 1, 1975, this district became the district of Viersen; Müller remained OKD and association chairman until 1984.
His successor in office, Hans-Christian Vollert (from 1984 to 1989 OKD, until 1989 to 2004 district administrator of the Viersen district) was also head of the association. Followed him
- Peter Ottmann (2005-2015)
- Andreas Coenen (since 2015)
history
The official establishment of the Schwalm-Nette nature park as a municipal association took place on April 16, 1965. The foundation ceremony took place on March 18, 1966 at Wassenberg Castle. His primary tasks in the early days included the creation of parking spaces for visitors and the creation of hiking trails . This also included the installation of information and orientation boards and the publication of maps for hikers. The focus of the work was on building a recreational infrastructure for visitors.
Since the mid-1980s, the areas of environmental education as well as local recreation and tourism have been two further pillars of the nature park's work. The imparting of knowledge and a sense of responsibility in dealing with nature is of particular importance. In 2008, the nature park was awarded the "Quality Nature Park" award by the Association of German Nature Parks , which was recertified in 2013. Since 2016 the nature park has also been one of three model regions nationwide for the “Nature Park Kita” project of the Association of German Nature Parks.
The Schwalm-Nette nature park has also been involved since 1976 as part of the 789 km² cross-border Maas-Schwalm-Nette nature park . The international association was founded on June 1, 2002 with the approval of the Province of Limburg .
Nature park plan
As an instruction for action, the association assembly adopted a nature park plan in October 2015. It is the successor to the previous action plans. The strategy concept provides models for the further development of the Schwalm-Nette nature park in the areas of nature conservation and landscape, tourism and leisure, environmental education and regional development . On the basis of the defined models and objectives, 12 lead projects were developed, which are to be gradually implemented in the future work of the association.
Educational work
As part of the natural and landscape information work of the Schwalm-Nette nature park, school education has played an important role since a decision by the association assembly in 1987. The focus is on creating fundamental environmental awareness and encouraging active commitment to nature conservation . Under the concept of nature education , the aspects of experiencing nature and ecological education are linked. The offer ranges from thematic excursions and courses for school classes to advice and support in redesigning the school premises to slide presentations and teacher training.
Visitor centers
In addition to the office in Viersen, three facilities in the nature park inform visitors about the history, landscape and special features of the Schwalm-Nette nature park:
- Nature park center “Haus Püllen” in Wachtendonk
- Brüggen Castle Nature Park Information Center in Brüggen
- until December 2016 Nature Park Center Wildenrath near Wegberg; the center is permanently closed; a nature park gate in Wassenberg is being planned
In addition to general information about the nature park, each visitor center offers information on a particular topic. In "Haus Püllen" this is the development of the landscape over the course of the earth's history , in Brüggen Castle it is the ecosystems of the Schwalm-Nette nature park.
Local recreation and tourism
There are many well-marked hiking trails and cycle routes in the area of the nature park. They also lead through the Elmpter Schwalmbruch, Holtmühle-Galgenvenn, Krickenbeck lakes and the Brachter Wald nature reserve .
Seven premium hiking trails lead in whole or in part through the Schwalm-Nette nature park. A total of nine are in the cross-border Maas- Schwalm-Nette area. These were first certified for three years by the German Hiking Institute in 2012 and recertified in September 2015. In Germany they are the only premium hiking trails in the lowlands . The premium hiking trail "Galgenvenn", which leads through the border forest, was voted the second most beautiful hiking trail in Germany in 2016.
In the southern municipality of Wachtendonk, a cultural landscape adventure trail extends in the Niers lowland . At ten stations, the cultural landscape elements of the Lower Rhine are presented on information boards . In cooperation with the ZDF children's program Löwenzahn , the nature park offers four geo-caching adventures for children. Another special feature are the 14 water mills and 3 windmills at Schwalm, Nette, Niers and Rur as well as the 25 designated water.
Connection
The area of the Schwalm-Nette nature park is crossed in the north by the A40 , which merges into the Dutch A67 , and the A61 , which merges into the Dutch A74 . The A52 runs to the south of the nature park and the A46 runs centrally . The Dutch A73 runs along the German-Dutch border.
The nature park does not have an ICE or IC connection, but can be reached by two regional trains. The RB34 from Rheydt Hauptbahnhof to Dahlheim stops in the nature park communities Wegberg and Arsbeck . The regional express 13 from Hamm to Venlo serves the nature park communities of Boisheim , Breyell and Kaldenkirchen .
Footnotes and individual references
- ↑ http://www.mainpost.de/regional/schweinfurt/Naturparks-Umweltminister;art769,7722485
- ↑ FOCUS NWMI / presse-service.de: Viersen: On a foray in nature. In: Focus Online . September 9, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.npsn.de/index/lang/de/artikel/1917
- ↑ www.npsn.de: Work started
- ↑ Link list: the nine hiking trails
- ↑ wanderinstitut.de . 34 criteria with around 200 characteristics must be met on every kilometer of the hiking trails. This includes, for example, the path format, landscape, cultural sights and the hiking guidance system
- ↑ www1.wdr.de
- ↑ npsn.de , zdf.de (click on 'North Rhine-Westphalia')