Rüggen nature reserve

The Rüggen nature reserve with a size of 13.36 hectares is located northeast of Dreislar in the urban area of Medebach . It was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) by the Hochsauerlandkreis in 2003 with the Medebach landscape plan. The NSG is part of the European bird sanctuary Medebacher Bucht .

Area description

The NSG is the striking Rüggen mountain with a height of 460 m with its forest. The forest consists of coppice with beech and oak. The beech forests take up most of the mountain and have stunted root necks. In places there is dead wood in the NSG. The herb and shrub layer is largely limited to various dwarf shrub species. To the west the ridge drops steeply to the Oswinkel valley. The oak has a larger proportion of the tree layer on these lower slopes. Due to the dense tillering, there is hardly any undergrowth here, only at the foot of the slope the shrub layer is thicker.

Protection purpose

The NSG is intended to maintain a larger, contiguous forest stock from former coppice forest management as a habitat type that is becoming rare. As with all nature reserves in Germany, the protection designation indicated that the area was declared a nature reserve “because of the rarity, special character and beauty of the area”.