In recent weeks and months, various tree felling operations have been carried out in the Hennickendorf district around the Gummiwiese meadow and the area between Stienitzsee and Torfhaus. The removal of the trees is part of NABU's project to restore species-rich wet meadows in the Herrensee, Langen-Damm-Wiesen and Barnimhänge nature reserve (NSG), in the area of the Stienitzsee meadows "Gummiwiesen".
NABU provides information on this (attached as a complete pdf file with images):
"In order to restore basiphilic moor grass meadows and meadows of calcareous fens with a high proportion of highly endangered plant and animal species, some of the trees that have grown up in recent decades are being removed here. This will not affect any endangered species. The former meadows will then be restored by mowing and grazing.
Basiphilic moor-grass meadows and the meadows of calcareous fens are protected throughout Europe under the EU Habitats Directive, and Brandenburg has a duty to conserve them.
Peatlands store CO2 permanently as long as the peat (formed mainly from dead parts of mosses and sedges) remains under water. The peat in the moor grows by 1 to 2 mm per year. The Lange-Damm-Wiesen is the moor with the most spring water in Brandenburg, and we have over 7 metres of peat thickness here in places.
Ideally, only the parts of trees that are under water can decompose. All above-ground parts will eventually decompose again or be burnt, for example, and therefore cannot store carbon in the long term. Trees in bogs also consume peat, which is why the carbon footprint there is negative.
Mire meadows can also store more water in the landscape and thus act as a buffer for dry periods. The transpiration of mosses and sedges is much lower than that of trees. At the same time, meadow regeneration levels out drainage channels and thus retains additional water.
Together with the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment and the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Fund, NABU has realised a series of additional water retention measures in this nature reserve in recent years. These include in particular the backfilling of ditches and the construction of bed slides in the Stranggraben.
We have additional support from the beaver, which retains water in central areas of the Lange-Damm meadows with its activities and is allowed to operate freely on the NABU areas.
Queries about the project and other questions about the nature reserve can be sent to info@Lange-Damm-Wiesen.de
info(at)Lange-Damm-Wiesen.de
be provided.
Mire meadows in the Lange-Damm-Wiesen also harbour many endangered mire species, some of which have their last occurrence in Brandenburg here, or only occur in very few other nature reserves. These species have very specialised adaptations to cope with the damp and nutrient-poor conditions. Lousewort is a semi-parasitic species that is supplied with nutrients by grasses. Butterwort covers its needs partly by catching small insects.
In the Herrensee, Lange-Damm-Wiesen and Barnimhänge nature reserve, 11 of the former 13 orchid species can still be found, 6 of them on the meadows at the Großer Stienitzsee. All native orchids place high demands on their habitat and are also heavily dependent on their root fungi. This is an adaptation to cope with the nutrient-poor conditions in the moor. They can therefore not be successfully replanted."