Nature reserve Wacholdergebiet Hermscheid

The nature reserve Wacholdergebiet Hermscheid with a size of 4.1 ha is located on the eastern outskirts of Altenhellefeld in the urban area of Sundern (Sauerland) . The area was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) with an area of 5.1 hectares for the first time in 1993 with the Sundern landscape plan by the district council of the Hochsauerlandkreis . When the landscape planner Sundern was reorganized, the NSG was again identified and reduced in size. The NSG borders directly on the development of the village to the west. Otherwise the landscape protection area for agricultural priority areas borders between Altenhellefeld, Grevenstein and Visbeck . Another name for the area is Wacholderheide Altenhellefeld .

Area description

The Hermscheid is a juniper heather on a flat, elongated mountain ridge rising to the east. Lean grassland with a species-rich bristle grass lawn with Harz bedstraw , bloodroot , field grove and three-toothed ridge . There is a prominent juniper stand on the area. In the area of the ridge as well as on the southern slope, the bristle grass lawn changes in areas into moderately species-rich poor and fat pastures. In the southeast, the pasture areas are heavily covered with deciduous trees and merge into a complex of field trees and bushes. Otherwise the grassland is more spacious, locally interspersed with 2 to 4 m high juniper bushes. Junipers were replanted in places and protected from browsing. Numerous shrub stumps testify to earlier de-bushing measures. In the north and south, the pasture is partially bordered by hedges rich in thorn bushes with blackthorn and roses. A paved dirt road crosses the area approximately in the middle.

The specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia writes about the NSG:

“In the biotope network, the juniper area Hermscheid is of national importance for communities in the structured lean grassland. In earlier years the juniper area Hermscheid was a heathland which only developed into a pasture area rich in bristle grass, but poor in dwarf shrubs, in the course of maintenance and management measures. "

Protection purpose

The NSG was established for the preservation of communities and habitats of certain wild plant and animal species, as well as for the protection of the nationally significant biotope with high development potential. 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”.

literature

Hochsauerlandkreis - Lower Landscape Authority (Ed.): Landscape plan Sundern , Meschede 1993, pp. 19-20.

Web links

"Wacholdergebiet Hermscheid" nature reserve in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia
Hochsauerlandkreis: Landscape plan Sundern - reorganization . Meschede 2019.

Individual evidence

^ Hochsauerlandkreis - Lower Landscape Authority (ed.): Landscape plan Sundern , Meschede 1993, p. 22.
↑ Landscape plan Sundern - reorganization, p. 42 ff. (PDF) Retrieved on May 4, 2019 .