The Usedom Island Nature Park (german: Naturpark Insel Usedom) comprises the German part of the island of

Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczecin ...

in the district of

Vorpommern-Greifswald Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland (West Pomeranian Voivodes ...

in the state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

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 ...

. In addition to the island itself, the park covers the waterbody between the island and the mainland as well as small strips of mainland in the northwest and west near the seaside resorts of

Lubmin Lubmin () is a coastal resort in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Lubmin is situated near Greifswald and on the Bay of Greifswald. Apart from tourism, Lubmin is a major transport and industry hub and investment location in the German ...

and the town of Lassan. Even in

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

days several parts of Usedom had been declared

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 ...

s, and they were gradually expanded. It was designated a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 1966 and, in 1993, expanded to the area of the present-day nature park. In December 1999 the entire region was officially designated a nature park in the sense of being a large-scale cultural landscape. An information centre, the Ruth and Klaus Bahlsen House, with exhibition rooms, maps and leaflets, is located in the historic station building on the Bäderstraße from

. The building was promoted as part of an INTERREG project and completed in 2005.Angaben zur INTERREG-Förderung
/ref> The park is bounded by the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

on the

Bay of Greifswald The Bay of Greifswald Peenestrom The Peenestrom is a river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without ...

river, the

Achterwasser The Achterwasser ( Low German ''achtern'' = "rear, behind") is a lagoon forming a bay on the Peenestrom river, which flows into the Baltic Sea. This lagoon extends so far into the island of Usedom, that it is only separated from the Baltic Sea b ...

lagoon and the

Oder Lagoon Szczecin Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Szczeciński, german: Stettiner Haff, since 1945 sometimes also ''Oderhaff'' (Oder lagoon) or ''Pommersches Haff'' (Pomeranian lagoon)) is a lagoon in the Oder estuary, shared by Germany and Poland. It is separated f ...

(''Stettiner Haff''). The total area of the park is . Roughly 30% of this area is covered by forest, about 50% by lakes and the bay, 15% is moorland and the remaining area is a cultural landscape. A special feature of the nature park is the great diversity of landscapes within a small area. These include beach and littoral, lakes and marshes, dunes, pine and beech forests mixed with small villages and fields. The island of Usedom is one of the richest bird areas in Germany.

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

, crane and

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

all breed in the nature reserve. The

eutrophic Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplank ...

and shallow lakes, such as the

Gothensee Gothensee is a lake in Usedom, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's s ...

and

Schmollensee Schmollensee is a lake in Usedom, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 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 popu ...

are ideal for bird roosting and nesting sites. The park is easily accessed on the B110 from

Anklam Anklam [], formerly known as Tanglim and Wendenburg, is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the ''Kleines Haff'', the western ...

or the B 111 from

Wolgast Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can be ...

or by rail on the

Usedomer Bäderbahn The Usedomer Bäderbahn (UBB) with its head office in Heringsdorf, northeastern Germany, is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the German national railway, Deutsche Bahn and the owner and operator of the railway network on the island of Usedom U ...

. At the edge of the park is the municipality of

Heringsdorf Heringsdorf is a semi-urban municipality and a popular seaside resort on Usedom Island in Western Pomerania, Germany. It is also known by the name Kaiserbad ('' en, Imperial Spa''). The municipality was formed in January 2005 out of the former m ...

with its villages of

Ahlbeck Ahlbeck is a village (''Ortsteil'') of the Heringsdorf, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Heringsdorf municipality on the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast. It is the easternmost of the so-called ''Kaiserbäder'' ("Imperial Spas") seaside re ...

, Heringsdorf and

Bansin Bansin forms the westernmost part of the seaside resort town of Heringsdorf in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, on the east coast of Usedom island, about five miles by rail northwest of Świnoujście. Bansin is one of the most popular resort ...

References

External links

State ordinance for the establishment of the ''Naturpark Insel Usedom'' dated 10 December 1999

Website of the nature park
{{Coord, 53, 58, , N, 14, 03, , E, type:landmark_dim:50000_region:DE-MV, display=title Nature parks in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Usedom Vorpommern-Greifswald Protected areas of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania