Weidmoos (nature reserve)
The Weidmoos (also in the spellings Waidmoos and - mainly historically - Weitmoos ) is a former high moor area in the extreme north of the Austrian state of Salzburg in the municipal areas of Sankt Georgen bei Salzburg and Lamprechtshausen . The area was declared an EU bird sanctuary in 2001 and thus included in the Europe-wide Natura 2000 network. The nature reserve consists of an approx. 135 hectare abandoned peat mining area and an approx. 35 hectare residual bog complex.
location
The Weidmoos is located in Salzburg and has a stake in the Sankt Georgen cadastral community of Holzhausen and the Lamprechtshausen cadastral community of Schwerting. The entire area shown as moor on maps is embedded between the adjacent Upper Austrian Ibmer Moor in the north and the Bürmooser Moor in the municipality of the Salzburg municipality of Bürmoos in the south. However, the reserve itself only takes up the northern part of it.
history
The Weidmoos was created around 10,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age , when the receding glacier tongues left behind a lake landscape. At the bottom of the lakes, deposits of sea clay accumulated , which still prevent the rainwater from seeping away . Peat mosses settled , which over time formed a 6 m thick layer of peat. With about 2000 hectares, one of the largest contiguous moor areas in Austria was formed.
Up into the 18th century, the moor areas, and thus also the Weidmoos, remained an almost inaccessible landscape for humans. Even if the Salzburg Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf von Thun decreed in 1700 that "... all Möser in the judicial districts in front of the mountains are to be described and made arable ..." , it took around 100 years until the Weidmoos were used. With the beginning of industrialization and the associated increased need for fuel, the Weidmoos became an interesting fuel supplier. In particular, the glass factory in neighboring Bürmoos used peat to fire the kilns. After its closure, the exploitation of the Weidmoos also ended in 1930. In 1947, the Austrian Nitrogen Works AG Linz began again with the industrial mining of peat. The peat obtained here was also used for heating purposes until 1950, after which it was only used to produce potting soil . When supplies ran out in 2000, mining stopped. Today only a small part of the raised bog is left.
Current condition
Shortly after the peat extraction stopped, nature returned to the industrially used area, which became a habitat for birds and other animal species. The birds used the marsh as a breeding area (especially for bound to open, expansive wetlands species like Bluethroat , Marsh Harrier , Spotted Crake , bittern and little bittern ) as well as a feeding area for breeding birds around.
In the course of the renaturation, water areas were created in which various amphibians settled, such as the yellow-bellied toad , tree frog , pond newt as well as agile, grass and water frogs. Also reptiles such as slow-worm , sand lizard , grass snake and smooth snake has already been proven.
In order to preserve and secure this open wetland landscape, the EU supported a LIFE project between 2003 and 2007. As part of this, a 12-meter-high observation tower was built and a former hut for workers was adapted as an information point.
At the entrance to the moor you can still see the remains of the tracks from the former narrow-gauge transport railway.
Impression
Observation tower
Impression
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Weidmoos in the nature conservation book of the State of Salzburg
- ↑ weidmoos.at - the area , accessed on November 7, 2011.
- ↑ Official Geographical Information System (GIS) ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the State of Salzburg
- ↑ weidmoos.at - glacier , accessed on November 7, 2011
- ↑ weidmoos.at - peat removal , accessed on November 7, 2011.
- ↑ Visitor facilities at weidmoos.at
Coordinates: 48 ° 1 ′ 41.2 ″ N , 12 ° 56 ′ 44.6 ″ E