The Zittau Mountains Nature Park (german: Naturpark Zittauer Gebirge) is a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

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 ...

, created in 2008. The nature park comprise the German parts of the

Lusatian Mountains The Lusatian Mountains ( cs, Lužické hory; german: Lausitzer Gebirge; pl, Góry Łużyckie) are a mountain range of the Western Sudetes on the southeastern border of Germany with the Czech Republic. They are a continuation of the Ore Mountains ...

at the borders with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and covers an area of of forests, lakes, meadows and

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

lands. Most of the Lusatian Mountains are in the Czech Republic, and these parts forms the Lusatian Mountains Protected Landscape Area (''CHKO Lužické hory'').

Protected areas

Zittau Mountains Nature Park consists of three protection zones: *Protection zone I (117 acres) includes the areas with the most valuable natural features and smaller nature parks, the ''Lausche'' and ''Jonsdorfer Felsenstadt''. *Protection zone II (7611 acres) includes the landscape parks of ''Zittauer Gebirge'' and ''Mandautal''. *Protection zone III (4610 acres) includes the settlement areas.

Fauna and flora

There are many protected species in the park, like ''

arnica montana ''Arnica montana'', also known as wolf's bane, leopard's bane, mountain tobacco and mountain arnica, is a moderately toxic European flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is noted for its large yellow flower head. The names "wolf's b ...

'', ''

aster alpinus ''Aster alpinus'', the alpine aster or blue alpine daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the mountains of Europe (including the Alps), with a subspecies native to Canada and the United States. This herbaceous ...

'', ''

drosera rotundifolia ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribut ...

'', ''

pedicularis ''Pedicularis'' is a genus of perennial green root parasite plants currently placed in the family Orobanchaceae (the genus previously having been placed in Scrophulariaceae ''sensu lato''). Description Between 350 and 600 species are accep ...

palustris'' and many

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s. The

alpine shrew The alpine shrew (''Sorex alpinus'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in the alpine meadows and coniferous forests of central and southern European mountain ranges. Description The Alpine shrew is in length, not incl ...

and many species of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

also live there.

Gallery

;Landscapes File:Blick von Nonnenfelsen im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A1592WI.jpg File:Blick vom Götzen Stein im Zittauer Gebirge...2H1A9284WI.jpg File:Blick von Aussichtspunkt auf den Berg Oybin in Zittauer Gebirge.2H1A9134WI.jpg File:Blick vom Berg Oybin im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A8450WI.jpg File:Blick vom Berg Oybin im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A8627WI.jpg File:Blick von Nonnenfelsen im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A1618WI.jpg File:Auf dem Weißer Stein im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A9444WI.jpg ;Scenes File:Am Wanderweg im Zittauer Gebirge..2H1A8987WI.jpg, Mixed forests File:Auf dem Weg zum Ritterbrücke im Zittauer Gebirge...2H1A8226WI.jpg, Deciduous woods File:Im Naturpark Zittauer Gebirge bei Oybin...2H1A0236WI.jpg, Conifer woods File:Naturdenkmal Kelchsteine bei Oybin..2H1A0119WI.jpg, Natural monuments (Kelchsteine) File:Oybin - Berg - Ritterschlucht 07 ies.jpg, Gorges and small canyons (Ritterschlucht) File:Stolová hora Oybin.jpg, Berg Oybin File:Dampfzug am Bahnhof Bertsdorf in Sachsen...2H1A9691WI.jpg, Old locomotive at the Bertsdorf train station

References

Official website

External links

{{Authority control Nature parks in Saxony Protected areas established in 2008 Zittau Görlitz (district) Zittau Mountains

Protected areas

Fauna and flora

Gallery

See also

References

External links