Nsg Hetter-Millinger Bruch

Summary

Hetter-Millinger Bruch protects a unique river marsh and cultural landscape. It's a vital resting and feeding ground for migratory birds, waders, meadow birds, and wintering geese. Valued for its wet grasslands, oxbows, and rich alluvial soils.

Description

The Hetter-Millinger Bruch nature reserve preserves a unique river marsh and rural cultural landscape shaped by the Rhine. It is a vital habitat for, and serves to protect, rare communities of wild plants and animals. It holds particular importance as a breeding, resting, and feeding ground for numerous waders and meadow birds, and as an internationally significant resting and foraging area for overwintering wild geese, including White-fronted, Bean, and Barnacle Geese. The extensive wet grasslands, flood meadows, wet pastures, and moist meadows are of outstanding value. The area also protects natural eutrophic lakes, oxbows, flowing waters with underwater vegetation, and lowland hay meadows. Valuable soils like typical alluvial gley are found here. Protected species include the Wood Sandpiper, European Golden Plover, Ruff, Hen Harrier, Western Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret, White Stork, Smew, Eurasian Curlew, Northern Lapwing, Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Black-tailed Godwit, Skylark, and Little Owl, among others.