Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park

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Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park
Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft
NP Vorp. Boddenlandschaft.JPG
Coastal vegetation
Relief Map of Germany.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Nearest city Rostock and Stralsund
Coordinates 54°28′N12°54′E / 54.467°N 12.900°E / 54.467; 12.900 Coordinates: 54°28′N12°54′E / 54.467°N 12.900°E / 54.467; 12.900
Area805 km2 (311 sq mi)
Established1 October 1990

The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park [1] (Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft) is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's largest national park, situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea. It consists of several peninsulas, islands and lagoon shore areas in the Baltic Sea, belonging to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen.

Contents

The national park includes:

The national park is characterised by very shallow water housing a unique coastal fauna. All portions of the national park are famous for being a resting place for tens of thousands of cranes and geese.

Its area is 805 km2.

Composition

Approximately half the area of the park is open Baltic Sea; more than another quarter covers parts of the lagoons in the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain including the West Rügen Bodden. Thus it protects these shallow water areas (in the Baltic Sea, the National Park boundary is based on the ten-metre depth contour) with their rich flora and fauna. The differing salt content of the brackish water habitats of the Baltic and the bodden (shallow lagoons) contribute significantly to the local diversity of nature. For example, the Baltic Herring visits the shallow bays regularly to spawn here.

The territory of the national park includes parts of the Darß and the peninsula of Zingst as well as most of the island of Hiddensee. In addition, a narrow strip of land on the island of Rügen, next to the bodden lies within the national park. Pine and beech woods, such as the Darß Forest, cover much of the land. In treeless areas there are bogs, resulting from coastal flooding.

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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State in Germany

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, internationally 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 population, 6th in area, and 16th in population density. Schwerin is the state capital and Rostock is the largest city. Other major cities include Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar and Güstrow.

Rügen Island in the Baltic Sea off the Pomeranian coast of Germany

Rügen is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Nordvorpommern District in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany

Nordvorpommern was a Kreis (district) in the northern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea, where it enclosed the city of Stralsund. Further to the northeast, separated from Stralsund and Nordvorpommern by the Strelasund, lies the island of Rügen, administratively part of the eponymous district. Other neighboring districts are Ostvorpommern, Demmin, Güstrow and Bad Doberan.

Darß

The Darß or Darss is the middle part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The peninsula's name is of Slavic origin. There is a large forest in the Darß. In recent times, the name "Darß" has also been used to refer to the entire peninsula.

Hiddensee Municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Hiddensee is a car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the German coast.

Zingst

Zingst is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea.

Fischland-Darß-Zingst

Fischland-Darß-Zingst or Fischland-Darss-Zingst is a 45 km (28 mi) long peninsula in the coastal district of Vorpommern-Rügen, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The three parts of the peninsula, from west to east, are Fischland, Darß and Zingst.

Bodden Brackish bodies of water often forming lagoons, along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea

Bodden are briny bodies of water often forming lagoons, along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These lagoons can be found especially around the island of Rügen, Usedom and the Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula. Some of them are protected reserves, forming the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park.

Born auf dem Darß Municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Born auf dem Darß is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is part of the peninsula Darß, to which also belong the villages of Prerow and Wieck. Born is situated at the southern shore of the peninsula Darß at the coastal lagoon, between Wieck and the Baltic seaside resort Ahrenshoop.

Prerow Municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Prerow is a municipality in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This Baltic seaside resort on the Darß peninsula is located about halfway between the historic Hanseatic towns of Rostock and Stralsund. It is one of three main settlements on the Darß, the others being the villages of Born and Wieck. Prerow has fine, sandy beaches and a picturesque landscape. It is hard to say where the forest ends and the village begins. The primeval Darß Forest has over 50 km of footpaths and cycle ways, a bridleway and tracks for horse-drawn carriages. West of the forest is West Beach with rugged terrain formed by wind and waves. South of Prerow is the bodden countryside. Visitors can take trips on a steam paddle boat and experience wildlife first-hand, nesting areas and various birds as the seasons change.

Wieck auf dem Darß Municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Wieck auf dem Darß is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

Vorpommern-Rügen is a district in the north of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by the Baltic Sea and the districts Vorpommern-Greifswald, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Rostock. The district seat is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund.

Bodstedter Bodden

The Bodstedter Bodden is a lagoon, of the type known as a bodden, that is part of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park in northeastern Germany. It lies south of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The heavily indented, reed fringed shoreline forms a picturesque landscape with the result that the villages near the shore are popular tourist destinations.

Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain

The Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain is a waterbody on the Baltic Sea coast northeast of Rostock in Germany. It consists of a string of several lagoons or bodden arranged in an east-west direction that are separated from the open sea by the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. The surface area of these lagoons is 197 km² and the average water depth is only about two metres.

Schaproder Bodden

The Schaproder Bodden is a bodden on the Baltic Sea coast between the island of Hiddensee in the west and the islands of Rügen and Ummanz in the east. To the north the Schaproder Bodden is linked to the Vitter Bodden by the so-called Trog between the Fährinsel and the Stolper Haken of Rügen island. To the south the bodden transitions into the Kubitzer Bodden. A boundary would be the line between the southern tips of the Hiddensee and Ummanz or the link from the Geller Haken - Insel Heuwiese.

Grabow (bodden) Bodden in Germany

The Grabow is a bodden - a lagoon-like waterbody - off the Baltic Sea south of the Zingst and Großer Werder peninsulas and the island group of Kleiner Werder.

West Rügen Bodden

The West Rügen Bodden are a string of lagoons and embayments, known as bodden, in Western Pomerania on the Baltic Sea coast. They lie in the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park west and southwest of the island of Rügen, and east and southeast of Hiddensee.

Vitter Bodden

The Vitter Bodden is a type of lagoon called a bodden between the northern part of the island of Hiddensee to the west and north and the peninsula of Bug, the Wieker Bodden and the northern part of the Schaprode peninsula to the east. In the north the bodden borders on the Bay of Libben on the open Baltic Sea and in the south on the Schaproder Bodden. It is one of the West Rügen Bodden.

Kirr

Kirr is an island in the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain south of the Zingst Peninsula on the German Baltic Sea coast. It is separated from the peninsula by the Zingster Strom. The island is a nature reserve within the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. It was formerly and is sometimes still called Großer Kirr or Große Kirr. This is to distinguish it from the northwestern part of the island, which was still a separate albeit much smaller island in the Zingster Strom in the second half of the 20th century, that used to be called Kleiner Kirr or Kleine Kirr.

Großer Werder (Zingst)

The peninsula of Großer Werder lies southwest of the Hiddensee, west of the island of Bock and is joined to the peninsula of Zingst to the east. It belongs to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen in northeast Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

References

  1. Western Pomerania Lagoon Area at www.naturefund.de. Accessed on 27 June 2012. Archived 2 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine

Sources