Upper Lenninger Valley with side valleys

	Upper Lenninger Tal nature reserve with side valleys IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
location	Lenningen , Esslingen district , Baden-Wuerttemberg
surface	5.93 km²
Identifier	1,152
WDPA ID	164881
Geographical location	48 ° 32 ' N , 9 ° 31' E Coordinates: 48 ° 31 '41 " N , 9 ° 30' 38" E
Setup date	June 1, 1993
administration	Regional Council Stuttgart

The Upper Lenninger Valley area with side valleys is a nature reserve (NSG number 1.152) designated by ordinance of the Stuttgart Regional Council of June 1, 1993 in the area of the municipality of Lenningen in the Esslingen district of Baden-Württemberg .

location

The 593.0 hectare nature reserve is located at the southern end of the Lenninger Valley and extends from Grabenstetten to the Lenninger district of Schopfloch . It is located in the natural area 094 - Middle Kuppenalb within the natural spatial main unit 09 - Swabian Alb . The upper Lenninger Tal with the side valleys Schlattstaller Tal and Donntal represents, next to the Neidlinger Tal, the most impressive valley head in the Alb area of the Stuttgart administrative district.

Protection purpose

The purpose of protection is the preservation of a coherent, near-natural area with numerous different habitats of rare animal and plant species, some of which are threatened with extinction, the preservation of the landscape characterized by natural deciduous forests, meadow meadows, rocks, heaths, wetlands and springs, and the preservation of an area of great importance speleological importance.

The unusually high biological value of the area is due to the rich use mosaic with different forest types, succession stages, semi-arid lawns, orchards, grassland, arable land, riparian trees, spring horizons, wet areas, standing and flowing water, rocks and rubble heaps.

caves

The gold hole near Schlattstall, one of the caves in the protected area

A special feature of this area are the numerous caves, a total of 56 caves have been mapped and described. The spectrum ranges from show caves with guided tours to smaller crevices in the rock. Among other things, the caves are important for the wintering of bats. Some caves still have beautiful stalactite formations, especially these caves deserve special protection, as they are increasingly looted and polluted.

Show caves are the Gußmannshöhle and the Gutenberger Höhle . Other well-known caves are the Goldloch , the Mondmilchhöhle , the Schlattstaller Höhlenruine , the Gustav-Jakob-Höhle , the Roßgallschacht , the Kleine Hofener Höhle , the Pfulbhöhle , the Insschrifthöhle , the Höllsternbröller , the Allradhöhle , the Wolfsschluchthöhle and the Große Schreckenhöhle .

literature

Reinhard Wolf , Ulrike Kreh (Hrsg.): The nature reserves in the Stuttgart administrative region . Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7995-5176-2 , pp. 476-479
Hans Binder , Herbert Jantschke: Cave guide Swabian Alb. Caves - springs - waterfalls . 7th completely revised edition. DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2003, ISBN 3-87181-485-7 .