Himmelgeister Rheinbogen nature reserve

	NSG Himmelgeister Rheinbogen IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
	Edge of the Weichholzaue and Rhine beach in the NSG (2011)
location	Düsseldorf , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany
surface	3 km²
Identifier	D-009
WDPA ID	163678
Natura 2000 ID	DE-4405-301
FFH area	4.6 ha
Geographical location	51 ° 9 ' N , 6 ° 48' E Coordinates: 51 ° 9 '3 " N , 6 ° 47' 55" E
Sea level	from 30.6 m to 40 m
Setup date	1993
administration	Lower landscape authority Düsseldorf

The nature reserve Himmelgeister Rheinbogen (NSG identification D-009) is located on the Rhine in the Himmelgeist district of the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital Düsseldorf . It was temporarily secured as a NSG in 1993 by ordinance of the Düsseldorf district government , then established by ordinance in 1996 and again in 2016. It is around 300 hectares .

An area of around 4.6 hectares in the northwest of the nature reserve is located in the larger FFH area DE-4405-301 Rhine fish protection zones between Emmerich and Bad Honnef and thus belongs to the European Natura 2000 network of protected areas .

Area description

The nature reserve extends between Rhine kilometers 724 and 730 for around five kilometers along the right bank of the Rhine. It encompasses both water areas (Rhine up to the city limits roughly in the middle of the river) and land areas (areas of the Rhine bend close to the banks). The landscape in the bend of the Rhine shows a strongly structured small relief , which is shaped by the floods and floods of the Rhine. In the area close to the river, there are softwood and partly older hardwood floodplains, followed by grassland areas with rows of trees, polluted willow and hedge structures , and poor meadows at higher points .

Within the NSG, south of the Himmelgeist location, lies the Mickeln Castle grounds with a park. A beach is formed between groynes on the banks of the Rhine ( Gleithang ) .

The mostly arable fields in the center of the Rhine bend bordering the nature reserve are not under nature or landscape protection. There, standing at the Cologne way by the end of 2015, the landscape formative and protected as a natural monument Himmelgeister chestnut ; after storm damage, the remains of the trunk were transformed into a sculpture.

Protection purpose

The primary goal of the nature reserve designation is the preservation and development of habitats of wild plant and animal species that are present in the richly structured floodplain landscape with various natural and cultural landscape elements.

Flora and fauna

Several endangered or rare species live in the Himmelgeister Rheinbogen. Floristically interesting are u. a. the Osterluzei and the early flowering meadow rue . From the animal world, the following are to be mentioned: river wolf spiders , Knautien sand bees and sand lizards as well as breeding birds and the like. a. Tree hawk , bloodline , little ringed plover , nightingale , oriole and little owl ; as guest birds can u. a. White stork , black kite and red kite can be observed. The area is particularly important for birds as a place of retreat, migration and wintering. Overall, it is an essential part of the extensive Rhine floodplain network.

tourism

The area is used - especially on the beach and in the areas close to the shore - for local recreation , which v. a. causes conflicts with nature conservation goals in the near-natural beach sections in the northwest. Two circular routes are advertised for tourists; one of them leads through the castle park Mickeln. A section of the Rhine Cycle Path runs over paved paths through the nature reserve.