The South Harz Karst Landscape Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Karstlandschaft Südharz) is a biosphere reserve in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

. It was founded on 23 March 2009 and is thus the 16th biosphere reserve in Germany. Its recognition by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

is pending.German biosphere reserves on the UNESCO website
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Geography

The biosphere reserve has an area of 30,034 hectares and lies in the county of

Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Its area is . History The district was established by merging the former districts of Sangerhausen and Mansfelder Land as part of the reform of 2007. In the German parliament, the Bun ...

on the territory of the towns of Allstedt and Sangerhausen and the municipalities of

Berga Berga () is the capital of the ''comarca'' (county) of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered by the municipalities of Cercs, Olvan, Avià, Capolat and Castellar del Riu. History Berga derives its name from ...

Südharz Südharz (literally "South Harz") is a municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities Bennungen, Breitenstein, Breitungen, Dietersdorf, Drebs ...

and Wallhausen. It runs from the southern edge of the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

from the state border with

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 ...

to the southern foothills of the Mansfeld Uplands in

Pölsfeld Pölsfeld is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Allstedt,gypsum karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

landscape with its

Zechstein The Zechstein (German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian (Guadalupian to Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of Englan ...

deposits features

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

sink-hole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s, dolines, ponors and

karst spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a spring (outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known in German-speaking lands as a ''Top ...

s. As well as

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

woods, there is a roughly 1000-year-old cultural landscape on the steep southern slopes of the South Harz with wood pastures, calcareous grassland and meadows with scattered fruit trees (''Streuobstwiesen''). Near Sangerhausen there is a former mining landscape with galleries and tips. Climatically the biosphere reserve lies on the transition between the sub-atlantic and sub-continental zones.

Protected zones

The biosphere reserve is divided into a core zone (''Kernzone'') and a managed zone (''Pflegezone''), which include six nature reserves *

Alter Stolberg The Alter Stolberg is a wooded karst plateau, up to , in the South Harz in Central Germany. It lies in the districts of Nordhausen in the state of Thuringia and Mansfeld-Südharz in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geographical location The ridge o ...

(Saxony-Anhalt) and Grasburger Wiesen * Heimkehle Gypsum Karst Landscape (''Gipskarstlandschaft Heimkehle'') * Pölsfeld Gypsum Karst Landscape (''Gipskarstlandschaft Pölsfeld'') * QuestenbergGypsum Karst Landscape (''Gipskarstlandschaft Questenberg'') * Großer Ronneberg-Bielstein * Pferdekopf as well as six

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

areas. Whilst, in the core zone, human intervention is banned, in the managed zone, some land usage is possible, as long as it conforms to the nature reserve regulations and does not affect the conservation and care of the eco-system. The "development zone" covers the rest of the area of the biosphere reserve, including parts of the protected landscape of "Harz and Southern Harz Foreland". Here, human management, including its use as a recreational area and the needs of nature, are considered together.

Tourism

The

Karst Trail The Karst Trail (german: Karstwanderweg) is a marked and signed footpath that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in Lower Saxony and Pölsfeld in Saxony-Anhalt through the karst landscape of the Harz, South Harz in Germany. The path ru ...

runs through the eastern part of the biosphere reserve. In November 2010, over 20 nature and landscape guides were trained. This community project by the biosphere reserve's authorities and the county college of further education was enabled local nature lovers to be qualified to look after tourists.

Goat grazing

At two places in the biosphere reserve, (

Bösenrode Berga is a municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The municipality consists of three villages: * Berga * Bösenrode * Rosperwenda Berga-Kelbra station, which is on the Halle–Hann. Münden railway is located ...

and Wallhausen) sheep and Boer goats have been introduced into orchards. This is intended to prevent the land becoming overgrown with bushes.

References

External links