During the Geostat meeting (http://catherinepfeifer.blogspot.com/2012/09/is-there-such-thing-as-free-lunch.html), an excursion to the
Rieselfelder area a meadow bird conservation area near Muenster was organized.
It is one of these areas where human have accidentally shaped a landscape that
turned out to conserve nature. A nice example of how unexpected rural areas
developments shape the current European rural landscape.
 |
| The major and regulation pond |
Rieselfelder used to be shaped by sewage farming. Beginning
of the century, the waste water of Muenster were directed to Rieselfelder,
where the waste water was used to fertilize the land. As the city of Muenster
grew, more and more waste water was directed to the area and farming became
impossible in the middle of the century. Only in the late seventies the city of
Muenster put an waste water plant into operation. In the meantime, waste water
continued flowing into the abandoned Rieselfelder area. The waste water laid
there and create small ponds full of mud and prevented tree and shrubs to grow.
The openness of the landscape and also the nutritious mud attracted many meadow
birds who found there the peace for breeding and abundant food, in a time where
these types of landscape disappeared from the European map.
 |
| A smaller pond |
Today, after several attempt to transform the Rieselfelder
area into an industrial zone, it finally became a nature conservation area
under the European bird directive. It is formed of several ponds with rids
where meadow bird find the safety and silence to breed. The recycled water from
the waste water plant flows into the biggest pond, that also serves as a
reservoir. During the summer, the water from the reservoir is used to fill the
other small ponds making sure that the area stays wet enough. The decreasing
level of water in the reservoir during this period results in a bigger muddy
zones, which insures that the meadow bird find sufficient food during the
breeding time.
 |
| The regulation point of the major pond/reservoir |
The whole area has also been well planned for recreation and
attracts the city dwellers who less than 10 km from the town center find a
place to relax, without disturbing the breeding meadow birds. Also the biological
field station offers children program so that every child regardless of her/his
background can discover nature. The biological field station also maintains the
area with some employees and many volunteers and collect data about meadow
birds.
It is an interesting story showing that the lack of urban
planning has created an environment that on other location has disappeared and
has become today one of the crucial nodes in Europe for migrating birds : a
multifunctional landscape worth a visit and some thoughts about the human
nature interaction.
More info can be found under http://www.rieselfelder-muenster.de/
 |
| Our very engaged and passionate guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment