At the first excursion stop, Andreas Beulting (NABU Nature Conservation Station Münsterland) informed the group about the measures carried out in the nature reserve ‘Bockholter Berge’. © Sebastian Schmidt
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08.05.2023
Exchange with a delegation of the Croatian Ministry of Environment
On 8th May, eight employees of the Croatian nature conservation administration paid a visit to Bezirksregierung Münster (the district government of Münster) during their trip through Germany. The study trip served as an exchange on the implementation and management of the European Natura 2000 network. Münster was the first stop; the LIFE IP ‘Atlantic Sand Landscapes’ (Atlantic Region DE) organised the programme for this day together with the LIFE project ‘Wiesenvögel NRW - Breeding and migratory low wetland meadow birds in North Rhine-Westphalia’.
After a welcome by District President Andreas Bothe, Georg Keggenhoff from the Ministry of the Environment of North Rhine-Westphalia and Matthias Kaiser from the State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV) informed the participants about the state of implementation and the general management of Natura 2000 in North Rhine-Westphalia. Afterwards, Sebastian Schmidt presented the LIFE IP ‘Atlantic Sand Landscapes’ and Ina Brüning (LANUV) the LIFE project ‘Wiesenvögel NRW’.
After the lunch break, the guests visited two project sites in the district of Steinfurt. In the nature reserve ‘Bockholter Berge’ near Greven-Gimbte, the LIFE IP, together with the NABU nature conservation station Münsterland, the lower nature conservation authority of the district of Steinfurt and the regional forestry office Münsterland, had expanded the open dune habitats (habitat types 2310 and 2330) and created important habitat structures to strengthen the sand lizard population. Here, Andreas Beulting from the NABU station explained in detail the works carried out.
In cooperation with the Biological Station of the district of Steinfurt and the lower nature conservation authority of the district of Steinfurt, in the SAC ‘Emsdettener Venn’, birch trees and alder buckthorns had been cleared over an area of about 3.5 hectares in order to optimize a degenerated raised bog and ditches to the south had been filled in to stabilize the water level. These measures are also intended to promote the focus species Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Hyla arborea and Rana arvalis which occur in the area. On site, Peter Schwartze and Thomas Starkmann (both from the Biological Station of the district of Steinfurt) explained the measures and the management of the areas.
As part of the ‘LIFE Wiesenvögel NRW’ project, in the SPA ‘Feuchtwiesen im nördlichen Münsterland’ (nature reserves ‘Emsdettener Venn’ and ‘Wiesen am Max-Clemens-Kanal’) the water balance is to be optimized and open marsh areas are to be created, disturbing structures will be removed and the visitor infrastructure improved. By using wildlife cameras at the nests of curlews and lapwings, the animal species responsible for clutch losses in particular, but also for losses of young birds, are to be identified. Targeted predation management will then be used to try to increase reproductive success in the future.
In the following three days, the Croatian guests visited the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park and the Dornumersiel National Park House as well as the nature reserve ‘Geltinger Birk’, the Hornis Peninsula, Holstein Switzerland, the Schwentine Valley and the Great Plön Lake.
The Educational Centre for Nature, Environment and Rural Areas of Schleswig-Holstein coordinated the delegation trip at the request of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the International Academy for Nature Conservation.