The Schaalsee Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Schaalsee) lies in western

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 ...

(districts of

Nordwestmecklenburg Nordwestmecklenburg (''Northwestern Mecklenburg'') is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the north-western part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Schleswig-Holstein to the west. Neighboring dis ...

and

Ludwigslust-Parchim Ludwigslust-Parchim is a district in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bordered by (clockwise starting from the west) the state Schleswig-Holstein, the district Nordwestmecklenburg, the district-free city Schwerin, the districts R ...

) on its border with

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

. From 1952 to 1990 large parts of the

Schaalsee Schaalsee is a lake in Germany. It forms part of the border between Schleswig-Holstein (district Herzogtum Lauenburg) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (districts Ludwigslust-Parchim and Nordwestmecklenburg). The town of Zarrentin is located on its south ...

landscape lay within the military out of bounds area of the

Inner German Border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

. That state-imposed rest period enable nature to develop so that in the year 2000 this valuable area was designated as a

biosphere 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 o ...

. On the Schleswig-Holstein side of the border is the

Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park The Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park (german: Naturpark Lauenburgische Seen)

founded in 1961.

Introduced Rheas

An escaped population of

greater rhea The greater rhea (''Rhea americana'') is a species of flightless bird native to eastern South America. Other names for the greater rhea include the grey, common, or American rhea; ema (Portuguese); or ñandú (Guaraní and Spanish). One of two sp ...

have become established in the reserve, with several hundred birds in the area. Studies of their ecological effects are ongoing, though damage to crops has been reported.

Geography

The biosphere reserve lies in a young moraine landscape formed in the

Weichsel glaciation Weichsel may refer to: * Vistula river (Weichsel in German) * Weichselian glaciation * Peter Weichsel Peter M. Weichsel (born 1943) is an American professional bridge player from Encinitas, California. College and war years Early Weichsel star ...

. To the east is the

Baltic Uplands The Baltic UplandsDickinson, Robert E. (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 614. . (german: Baltischer Landrücken or ''Nördlicher Landrücken'') is a chain of morainic hills about wide that borde ...

, pierced by the

Trave The Trave () is a river in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It passes through Bad Segeberg, Bad Old ...

, and which runs across the whole of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

.
In the lake of

, that gives the reserve its name, are several islands including Kampenwerder, Stintenburginsel and Rethwiese.

Literature

References

External links

Ordinance about the designation of nature reserves and a protected landscape of central importance under the overall title of Schaalsee Biosphere Reserve dated 12 September 1990, last amended on 21 July 1998

Office for the Schaalsee Biosphere Reserve

Society for the Preservation of the Schaalsee Biosphere

Stiftung Biosphäre Schaalsee

M-V environmental map portal with geodata (reser boundaries, biotope mapping, geotope etc.)
{{Coord, 53, 38, , N, 10, 58, , E, type:landmark_dim:30000_region:DE-MV Biosphere reserves of Germany Important Bird Areas of Germany Ludwigslust-Parchim Nature reserves in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania