Biotope restoration of the dune heath on Hiddensee

Project:



NABU MV, the project sponsor, is restoring overgrown and bushy areas in the dune heath.

The first construction phase has been completed with the clearing work in preparation for plaggening the heath.



Background:



With a total area of around 250 hectares, the Hiddensee dune heath with its adjacent beach mound fan is the largest remaining coastal dune heath in the German Baltic Sea region. As is typical for coastal dune heaths, the dune heath is made up of a mosaic of different micro-habitats of varying moisture and succession stages and is home to the following FFH habitats:



2130 Fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation (gray dunes)

2140 Decalcified dunes with Empetrum nigrum

2190 Moist dune valleys

4010 Moist heaths of the North Atlantic region with Erica tetralix

4030 Dry European heaths.



The dune heath was managed for centuries by sheep grazing and the removal of heather. Today, this old cultural landscape is preserved through various maintenance measures. In addition to regular scrub clearance ("debushing"), sheep grazing was resumed in 2003 by an itinerant shepherd. However, decades of abandonment have led to some areas of the heathland becoming eutrophic and now overgrown with grasses (mainly sand sedge, cordgrass and land riding grass). The restoration of these areas requires more extensive measures. In addition, the late weeping cherry was planted in the coastal protection forest that was established in front of the dune heath in the early and mid-20th century. This species is spreading into the heathland and has formed denser stands in some areas, sometimes with older shrubs that can hardly be removed by manual intervention.



Project area:



The project area is located in the municipality of Hiddensee, district of Vorpommern-Rügen, south of Vitte. The areas are divided into numerous parcels whose owners have been asked for and given their consent. The processing area is predominantly located in the "Dünenheide" nature reserve and in the "Insel Hiddensee" landscape conservation area.