Listhof nature reserve

	Listhof nature reserve IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
	View from the observation platform in the southwest of the nature reserve (2014)
location	Reutlingen , Reutlingen District , Baden-Württemberg , Germany
surface	123 ha
Identifier	4,297
WDPA ID	318742
Geographical location	48 ° 29 ' N , 9 ° 10' E Coordinates: 48 ° 28 '42 " N , 9 ° 10' 0" E
Setup date	July 6, 2000
administration	Regional Council Tübingen

The Listhof nature reserve is a nature reserve (NSG number 4.297) with wet meadows , mixed deciduous forest and orchards in the area of the city of Reutlingen in the Reutlingen district in Baden-Württemberg, which was designated by ordinance of 6 July 2000 of the Tübingen regional council . The 123 hectare area in the southwest of the city belongs to the nature area 101 ( Middle Alb foreland ) and includes the former tank training area in the districts of Reutlingen, Betzingen and Ohmenhausen . The area was designated as a compensatory measure for the construction of the Scheibengipfeltunnel in 2000.

history

The area was used as a training area by the French military until 1992. a. used for tank exercises. Although it was close to the city, it was largely exempted from intensive use as a restricted military area . As a result, biotopes developed for animal and plant species that are rare in southwest Germany. After the withdrawal of the French troops, local politics initially considered securing the area as an urban reserve or leisure area. In cooperation with the District Office for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management Tübingen , however, the city of Reutlingen developed a nature conservation concept that the local council unanimously approved in 1996. Research by various ecologists followed and identified some species of national importance. There are several reasons why the former practice area was classified as "ecologically particularly valuable" : on the one hand, the facility was relatively large for the densely populated landscape of Baden-Württemberg and not cut up by public roads or settlements; on the other hand, it is neither fertilized, sprayed or drained so that there is no significant exposure to fertilizers, pesticides or drainage. In September 2000, the Tübingen regional council finally declared the Listhof a nature reserve . The city of Reutlingen and the route of the Scheibengipfeltunnel can be seen from the plateau of the site. The nature reserve was u. a. reported as compensation for the destruction of orchards by this construction project. For around 3.1 million marks at the time, the city also bought land from the federal government that did not yet belong to it.

Flora, fauna and landscape

Swallowtail caterpillar

The military use has resulted in a number of small biotopes and gradually silting ponds. Landscape elements are poor meadows with individual trees and hedges, orchards and forests, a brook lined with alluvial forest and water holes with rushes and reeds in the furrowed terrain. The yellow-bellied toad and the swallowtail are prominent animals that are primarily found in the Listhof nature reserve . With its 124 hectares, the ecological benefit of the area is controversial. Networking to other unused areas is de facto not given in the heavily populated region. The forests in the area are regularly managed. The pressure to use the area is still high: A model airplane airfield is at one end of the area, an allotment garden and a motorsport track on the other. Hunting is allowed in the area.

care, support

The Listhof municipal environmental education center is located on the site in a renovated, former French military barracks . This has been the information point of the UNESCO Geopark Swabian Alb since July 2020 . Due to its location close to the city and good transport connections, the nature reserve offers visitors the opportunity to relax in a gentle way. Landscape conservation measures are carried out by the environmental education center.

literature

Regional Council Tübingen (ed.): The nature reserves in the administrative district of Tübingen . Pp. 426-427. Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-7995-5175-5 .