Bargerveen Nature Reserve is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of Drenthe that has been included in the Natura 2000 ecological network. Since 2006 it is part of the Internationaler Naturpark Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen (''engl. Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen International Nature Park''), a nature reserve located on both sides of the border between the Netherlands and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Most of the transboundary nature reserve, some , lies in Germany, in the west of the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. The sparsely populated landscape consists of large peat areas, heather, and small lakes. The Dutch part of the nature reserve was founded in 1992 as ''Natuurreservaat Bargerveen''. It was designated as a Ramsar site (a wetland of international importance) the following year. Bargerveen has a size of . It consists mainly of peat bog.

Bog restoration

Some of the wetland area had become degraded, and, after peat extraction was discontinued, restoration work was needed to improve water retention. The project had the objective of creating active

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrot ...

and was coordinated by

Staatsbosbeheer Staatsbosbeheer, founded in 1899, is a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves. Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250,000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public ...

, the government agency that manages the site. The work was supported by the European Union's LIFE programme in the years 2003–2006, but it was noted that the full effects would be seen in the longer term. Bargerveen has been twinned with two Irish Ramsar Sites,

Clara Bog Clara Bog is one of the largest relatively intact raised bogs remaining in Ireland. It lies southeast of the R436 regional road between the village of Ballycumber and the town of Clara, in County Offaly. Much of the bog is state-owned and ma ...

and Raheenmore Bog, which were identified as needing active management measures.A Directory of Wetlands of International Importance

Flora and fauna

Bargerveen is a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

for bird-life, and is home to large numbers of wintering bean geese. It is also an Important Bird Area: "trigger" species are the

spotted crake The spotted crake (''Porzana porzana'') is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake's breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into ...

and the red-backed shrike. It is also a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

. File:Bargerveen10.jpg, Now an

insect hotel An insect hotel, also known as a bug hotel or insect house, is a manmade structure created to provide shelter for insects. They can come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the specific purpose or specific insect it is catered to. Mo ...

, this house was previously occupied by a family, the last people to live at Bargerveen. File:Bargerveen.jpg, Bargerveen Nature Reserve File:Bargerveen nightshot1.jpg, Bargerveen Nature Reserve at night

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bargerveen *http://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/English/Natura%202000.aspx *http://www.naturpark-moor.eu (German) *http://www.erdoel-erdgas-museum-twist.de (German) *http://www.moormuseum.de (German) *https://web.archive.org/web/20100415215906/http://www.bentheimer-landschaf.de/schutzgebiete.html (German) Bogs of the Netherlands Emmen, Netherlands Geography of Drenthe Landforms of Drenthe Germany–Netherlands border Important Bird Areas of the Netherlands Nature reserves in the Netherlands Protected areas established in 1992 Ramsar sites in the Netherlands Special Areas of Conservation Special Protection Areas in the Netherlands Tourist attractions in Drenthe