A Naturschutzgebiet (abbreviated NSG) is a category of protected area (nature reserve) within Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act (the Bundesnaturschutzgesetz or BNatSchG). [1] Although often translated as 'Nature Reserve' in English, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) refers to them as 'Nature Conservation Areas'. [2] It meets the criteria of an IUCN Category IV Habitat and Species Management Area. [3]
The use of the term Naturschutzgebiet or terms that could be confused with it for anything other than the legally protected areas is forbidden under this law.
Because legal restrictions are placed on activity within German nature reserves they have to be signed on the ground. Only by this means can e.g. walkers know that they are entering a nature reserve and may not e.g. leave the tracks and paths. For historical reasons there is no standard sign used across Germany.
Nature reserves in the "old states" of the Federal Republic of Germany are marked by green signs with the silhouette of a white-tailed eagle. In the new federal states of the former East Germany they are marked with a pentagonal yellow sign bearing an image of a long-eared owl. The reunification of Germany the 36th Environmental Minister's Conference in 1991 recommended the use of the owl symbol in future in the whole of Germany to designate nature reserves. This recommendation was not universally adopted by the states, in whom the jurisdiction for conservation policy was vested. For that reason there are de facto three different signs being used alongside one another in Germany today.
At the end of 2008 there were 8,413 nature reserves in Germany with a total area of 1,271,582 hectares. That corresponds to 3.6% of the area of Germany. [4] The lowest percentage areas are in the states of Hesse (1.8%) and Rhineland-Palatinate (1.9%). The percentage coverage in the old and new states is identical. About 60% of all nature reserves are smaller than 50 hectares in area. In such small areas experts say that the achievement of conservation goals is at risk, because negative influences from the surrounding area cannot be sufficiently mitigated. The number and size of nature reserves has increased considerably in recent decades. In 1995 there were only 5,314 Naturschutzgebiete in Germany with an area of 6,845 km2. Even the current coverage is seen by experts as too low to preserve the variety of species in Germany.
The following lists detail the nature reserves by state:
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Elections in Germany include elections to the Bundestag, the Landtags of the various states, and local elections.
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The Landesliga is a tier of football in some states of the German football league system.
This is a list of coats of arms of Germany.
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Concordats between the Holy See and individual German states were concluded both before and after the unification of Germany in the 1870s. Early examples include:
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In the run up to the 2017 German federal election, various organisations carry out opinion polling to gauge voting intention in Germany. Results of such polls are displayed in this article.
The Police of Germany may refer to one of a number of German law enforcement agencies.
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The Bundesvision Song Contest 2007 was the third edition of the annual televised Bundesvision Song Contest, a German reality singing contest. The contest was held on 9 February 2007 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, following Seeed's win in the 2006 contest in Hesse with the song "Ding". The contest was hosted by Stefan Raab, Johanna Klum, and Elton in the green room.
Alte Burg, Alteburg or Burgstall Alte Burg refers to the name or nickname of various castles, castle ruins, castle sites and hillforts or ringworks:
The list of German municipal flags lists the flags of municipalities of Germany. Most municipalities of Germany have unique flags. Like state flags, most of them are with either a bicolor or tricolor stipes with or without the emblem ("wappen"). Therefore, the list will also discuss the emblems. Please note that some of the flags listed are either de facto flags, flags that are flown for local purposes or flags that are not yet approved by state interior ministries.
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