Results

Almost 70 bulls and cows graze peacefully on the meadow. Various birds can be heard and seen, wild boars and deer hide in the forest and a huge diversity of amphibians and fish live amongst a family of beavers in and by the Elbe river, which flows through the 70 ha large project territory.The horses on the field next to the cows enjoy galloping around as a majestic fish-eagle prepares to dive in the river for a fresh meal.

Dr. Peter Neuhäuser enjoys watching the scenery. He knows every species in this landscape by name. As the project manager he has put a lot of time and effort into creating this natural conservation area.

By now the project saved numerous native animals, birds and plants from extinction and enabled other animals to increase reproduction by creating more space to live and breed in.

Challenge

Through false use of the meadows and fields close to the Elbe river many native plants and animals almost vanished over the last decades. The river was managed in an unnatural way and and local industry used to dump their waste in the river.

Many projects for the enviromental conservation and protection have been carried through during the last years but still many creatures and plants remained threatened to be extinct.Most projects concentrated on cleaning the Elbe river but almost no one knew how to rehabilitate the nature to the way it used to be.

Actions Taken

Together the HNUI and the NABU purchased 70 ha of unused ground at the Elbe river. They knew that natural processes would start happening as soon as native animals would live in the area.

So they let a herd of cows and another group of horses roam freely around the territory all year and soon other wild animals settled there.A few months ago they even sighted a greater spotted eagle, a sight that has become very rare.

"We didn´t get much support, but nevertheless we were successful!" says Dr. Neuhäuser.He plans to expand the territory by at least 50% of its present size and hopes to see many more rare animals becoming a common sight.