Arnsberg Forest nature reserve

Forest in the northern area of the NSG

The Arnsberg Forest nature reserve with a size of 3,920.4 hectares is located around Neuhaus and Sankt Meinholf in the Lower Arnsberg Forest in the municipality of Möhnesee and in the urban area of Warstein in the Soest district . It was designated as a nature reserve in 1991 by the Arnsberg district government . In 2004, the Arnsberg district government reassigned it as a nature reserve. In the west it borders directly on the nature reserve Hevearm and Hevesee and in the south lies directly on the border with the city of Arnsberg and the nature reserve Breitenbruch-Neuhaus there . The nature reserve belongs to the 7,991 hectare FFH area Arnsberg Forest (DE-4514-302).

Area description

The forest there is mainly planted with red beech and red spruce in different age groups. Large-scale old oak wood is also located in the NSG. In the area of the Schmalenau Bruch there is a complex of birch moor forest, birch quarry forest and alder floodplain forest. In the forest areas regularly species breed as black woodpecker , gray woodpecker , great spotted woodpecker , middle spotted woodpecker and lesser spotted woodpecker and spotted flycatchers , pied flycatcher and marsh tit .

In the protected area there are partly very natural and freely meandering watercourses, especially the Heve , with oxbow lakes and regularly flooded meander loops . The brooks are partly lined with alder forests in the floodplain . In addition to gravel banks and scouring, the Heve creek has steep walls up to two meters high on the impact banks. Butterbur corridors can be found in the area of the gravel banks. In the floodplains there are also grassland areas in the floodplains. Kingfisher , brook lamprey and bullhead can be found on and in the streams .

A juniper heather lies west of the Vosshütte. In the heather there is a small, roughly triangular area with juniper and other types of heather.

Protection purpose

The aim is to protect the forest area with its species inventory. As with all nature reserves in Germany, the protection designation indicated that the area had been declared a nature reserve “because of the rarity, special character and beauty of the area”.