Hainich National Park

Last updated
Hainich National Park
Nationalpark Hainich
Hainich fg03.jpg
Canopy walkway through the forest
Location Thuringia, Germany
Nearest city Bad Langensalza
Coordinates 51°05′48″N10°23′27″E / 51.096667°N 10.390833°E / 51.096667; 10.390833
Area75 km2 (29 sq mi)
Established31 December 1997
Governing bodyNationalpark Hainich
Bei der Marktkirche 9
99947 Bad Langensalza

Hainich National Park (German : Nationalpark Hainich), founded on December 31, 1997, is the 13th national park in Germany and the only one in Thuringia. One of the main objectives of the park is the protection of an ancient native beech forest. In 2011, the park was added to the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe World Heritage Site because of its testimony to the ecological history of the beech tree and the dynamics of forests in Europe since the Last Glacial Period. [1]

Contents

Geography

The 75 km2 (29 sq mi) park lies in the western part of the German state of Thuringia, east of the Werra River, and is part of the greater Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park. It occupies much of the triangular area between the cities of Eisenach, Mühlhausen, and Bad Langensalza. The national park the southern part of the roughly 160 km2 (62 sq mi) Hainich, the largest contiguous deciduous forest in Germany.

Biodiversity

Animals. Animals in the park include wildcats, 15 species of bats, 7 species of woodpeckers, and over 500 types of wood beetles. Fungi. To date, over 1,600 species of fungi have been recorded in the National Park, [2] and the eventual total, including lichen-forming species, is expected to exceed 3,000. Around 300 of the already recorded fungi are endangered or even threatened by extinction. Some are found nowhere else in Thuringia or are extremely rare in Germany as a whole, and their protection is a responsibility recognized by the National Park. Plants. About 900 plant species have been recorded in the National Park. European beech dominates the forest communities, with additional populations of ash trees, hornbeams, limes, and maples. Particularly striking are spring snowflake and corydalis, liverleaf, early dog-violet, anemone, buttercup anemone, wild garlic and Turk's cap lily.

Protection of the ecosystem

The goal of Hainich National Park is to restore a large section of central European forest to its primordial state. The park covers an area formerly used for military training, with about 50 km2 (19 sq mi) of deciduous forest. In the future, the beech forest should grow to cover most of the park's area.

See also

Literature

Films

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Müritz National Park</span> National park in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

The Müritz National Park is a national park situated roughly in the middle between Berlin and Rostock, in the south of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It extends over large portions of the Müritz lakeland in the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte. Müritz National Park was founded in 1990. The total area is 318 km2. Near the city of Waren visitors can get information on the national park at the Müritzeum. The beech forests within the national park were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011 as an extension of the Primeval Beech Forests of Europe site because of their unspoilt nature and testimony to the ecological history of Europe since the Last Glacial Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmund National Park</span> Nature reserve on Rügen island, Germany

The Jasmund National Park is a nature reserve on the Jasmund peninsula, in the northeast of Rügen island in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, the highest of which is Königsstuhl, rising to 118 m (387 ft) above the Baltic Sea. The highest point in the park as a whole is Pieckberg, at 161 m (528 ft) above sea level. The beech forests behind the cliffs are also part of the national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harz National Park</span> National Park in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and Ilsenburg on the northern slopes. 95% of the area is covered with forests, mainly with spruce and beech woods, including several bogs, granite rocks and creeks. The park is part of the Natura 2000 network of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Langensalza</span> Town in Thuringia, Germany

Bad Langensalza is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canopy walkway</span> Elevated walkway

Canopy walkways – also called canopy walks, treetop walks or treetop walkways – provide pedestrian access to a forest canopy. Early walkways consisted of bridges between trees in the canopy of a forest; mostly linked up with platforms inside or around the trees. They were originally intended as access to the upper regions of ancient forests for scientists conducting canopy research. Eventually, because they provided only limited, one-dimensional access to the trees, they were abandoned for canopy cranes. Today they serve as ecotourism attractions in places such as Dhlinza Forest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia, Sedim River, Kulim, Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda and Kakum National Park, Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bieszczady National Park</span> National park in Poland

Bieszczady National Park is the third-largest national park in Poland, located in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in the extreme southeast corner of the country. In 2021, the national park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyresta National Park</span>

Tyresta National Park is a national park with a surrounding nature reserve in Sweden, located in Haninge and Tyresö municipalities in Stockholm County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poloniny National Park</span>

Poloniny National Park is a national park in northeastern Slovakia at the Polish and Ukrainian borders, in the Bukovské vrchy mountain range, which belongs to the Eastern Carpathians. It was created on 1 October 1997 with a protected area of 298.05 km2 (115.08 sq mi) and a buffer zone of 109.73 km2 (42.37 sq mi). Selected areas of the park are included into Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna National Park</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna is a national park in Italy. Created in 1993, it covers an area of about 368 square kilometres (142 sq mi), on the two sides of the Apennine watershed between Romagna and Tuscany, and is divided between the provinces of Forlì Cesena, Arezzo and Florence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hainich</span> Hill chain in Germany

Hainich is a forested hill chain in the state of Thuringia in Germany, between the towns of Eisenach, Mühlhausen and Bad Langensalza. Hainich covers an area of around 160 km², of which, since 31 December 1997, half has been designated as Hainich National Park. The highest point in Hainich is Alte Berg at 1621 ft. The Mühlhäuser Stadtwald in the northern part of Hainich is the largest municipal forest in Thuringia. The landmark of Hainich is Betteleiche, a 600-year-old common oak at Ihlefeld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe</span> UNESCO world heritage site

Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts in 18 European countries. Together, the sites protect the largest and least disturbed forests dominated by the beech tree. In many of these stands, these forests here were allowed to proceed without interruption or interference since the last ice age. These sites document the undisturbed postglacial repopulation of the species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shebenik National Park</span> Protected area in Albania

Shebenik National Park is a national park in eastern Albania adjacent to the border with North Macedonia. It encompasses 34,507.9 hectares (345.079 km2) and is specifically marked by a mountainous landscape supplied with glacial lakes, valleys, dense coniferous and deciduous forests and alpine meadows and pastures. Elevations in the park vary from 300 metres to over 2,200 metres above the Adriatic at the peak of Shebenik and Jabllanica, hence the name. It dwells a number of endangered species that are fast becoming rare in Southern Europe, including the brown bear, gray wolf and balkan lynx. The abundance in wildlife can in part be explained by the variety of vegetation types and remote location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cozia National Park</span> National park in Romania

The Cozia National Park is situated in Romania, in the northeast part of Vâlcea County, in administrative territory of localities Brezoi, Călimănești, Racoviţa, Perișani, Sălătrucel and Berislăvești.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nationalpark Kalkalpen</span>

Kalkalpen National Park is a national park within the Northern Limestone Alps mountain range, located in the state of Upper Austria, Austria. The park was established in 1997. The ancient beech forests within the national park were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, because of their undisturbed nature and testimony to the ecological history of Europe since the Last Glacial Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural beech wood</span>

Natural beech wood is a beech wood, that is able to replenish and sustain itself on its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Ukraine</span>

The wildlife of Ukraine consists of its diverse fauna, flora and funga. The reported fauna consists of 45,000 species when including the areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Ukraine's protected environments consist of 33 Ramsar sites covering an area of 7,446.51 square kilometres (2,875.11 sq mi). Biosphere nature reserves and three national parks are all part of the GEF projects portfolio of conservation of biodiversity in the Danube Delta. Their vegetation pattern is mixed forest area, forest-steppe area, steppe area, Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains and Crimean Mountains. Some of the protected areas that were reserves or parks are subsumed under the biosphere reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellerwald-Edersee National Park</span> National Park in Northern Hesse, Germany

The Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, CDDA-No. 318077) in the North Hessian county of Waldeck-Frankenberg is a national park, 57.38 km² in area, that lies south of the Edersee lake in the northern part of the low mountain range of the Kellerwald in the German state of Hesse. Since 25 June 2011 the beech forested area of the national park has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, because of its testimony to the ecological history of the beech family and the forest dynamics of Europe since the Last Glacial Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzhanskyi National Nature Park</span> National park in Ukraine

Uzhanskyi National Nature Park is a protected area in Ukraine. It is located in Uzhhorod Raion of Zakarpattia Oblast, at the border with Poland and Slovakia. The park was created on 5 August 1999 and has the area of 39,159.3 hectares (151.195 sq mi). Since 2007, it is part of the World Heritage site Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. It is also part of the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. The park was created to protect pristine beech forest of the Carpathians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh primeval beech forest</span>

The protected forest area, Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh, is located in the Trancarpathian region of Ukraine and belongs to the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. It is the largest primeval beech forest worldwide with an area of 8800 ha. Since 1920, some parts of this forest have been protected. In 1992, Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh primeval beech forest was designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Later, several other primeval and old-growth beech forests in Europe were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe as well.
As a primeval beech forest, Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh is an important research hotspot. In 2001, a 10 ha research sample plot was installed in Mala Uholka as part of a Swiss-Ukrainian research project, and in 2010 a full statistical inventory of the primeval forest was carried out. The next inventory is planned in 2019 to detect any changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central European mixed forests</span>

The Central European mixed forests ecoregion is a temperate hardwood forest covering much of northeastern Europe, from Germany to Russia. The area is only about one-third forested, with pressure from human agriculture leaving the rest in a patchwork of traditional pasture, meadows, wetlands. The ecoregion is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome, and the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate. It covers 731,154 km2 (282,300 sq mi).

References

  1. "Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. "Hainich National Park | Fungi". www.nationalpark-hainich.de. Retrieved 2023-09-26.