Flowers and grass, butterflies and ground breeders – the mountain meadows of the Rhön are a species-rich microcosm. The “Rhöner Bergwiesen” project has now received a nationally significant award for its merits in preserving this important habitat.
Hilders (dpa/lhe) – The “Rhöner Bergwiesen” project has been recognized as one of three projects nationwide for its contribution to the preservation of ecosystems and biological diversity. On Wednesday, the President of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Sabine Riewenherm, handed over a corresponding certificate to project manager Elmar Herget from the Hessian administration of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve, under whose umbrella the project is located. “The “Rhöner Bergwiesen” project is committed to restoring a habitat that is very important for biodiversity and climate protection. We are honoring this commitment with the award as part of the UN Decade,” explained Riewenherm.
The project, funded by the EU, the state of Hesse and the district of Fulda, was extended by two to eight years and will now run until 2024. “The Rhön is one of 30 excellent hotspots of biological diversity throughout Germany,” said State Secretary for the Environment Oliver Conz . In order to further support the important work, the state of Hesse has increased its budget for the extension of the project to a total of 3.3 million euros.
Since 2016, the initiators of the project have been dedicated to protecting and preserving the threatened Rhön mountain meadows. In cooperation with farmers from the region, measures are taken to preserve habitats that have become rare, for example for bird species such as snipe and corncrake and plants such as arnica and globeflower. To achieve this, this cultural landscape must be nurtured and cared for so that, for example, meadows that are no longer grazed do not become overgrown with bushes that crowd out other species.
A spokeswoman for the Rhön biosphere reserve explained that the key to success is careful agricultural use, for example by choosing mowing dates in a manner that is in line with nature conservation, careful grazing, not using fertilizers and pesticides and using gentle mowing equipment. In addition, volunteers from all over Germany regularly come together in the Rhön to help with the care of these meadows, which are particularly rich in species, but also with other special habitats in the Rhön, for example with the preservation of the moors.
The United Nations had declared the period 2021 to 2030 as the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration. In this context, a nationwide project competition was advertised, in which a total of 52 projects entered the race.