Hollow stone nature reserve

West entrance of the Veleda cave

The Hohler Stein nature reserve is located south of Velmede in the municipality of Bestwig and has a size of 12.32 hectares . The area was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) by the Hochsauerlandkreis in 2008 with the Bestwig landscape plan. The area is since 2004 one of the ten sub-areas of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat area (FFH) caves and tunnels in Bestwig and Olsberg (Natura 2000 no. DE-4616-304) in the European system of protected areas to Natura 2000 . Only parts South of the NSG belong to the FFH area.

Area description

The NSG is a forest area with the Veleda cave and rocks. The cave is an important habitat for bats . The numerous bat bones that were found in crevices and on ledges in the cave show that the cave has been visited by bats for a very long time, especially in winter. Bats also visit the cave in late summer in order to fly from here to their hunting grounds at night. Noteworthy are individual specimens of the northern bat , which regularly use the cave to hibernate. This species has its only occurrence in north-western Germany in the eastern Hochsauerland. There are also special cave-dwelling invertebrate cave crabs in the area. The cave is also winter quarters for fire salamanders .

Protection purpose

The NSG is supposed to protect the forest area with the Veleda cave and its species inventory.

As with all nature reserves in Germany, the protection designation pointed out that the area became a nature reserve “because of the rarity, special character and beauty of the area”.