Elbhöhen-Wendland Nature Park
The Natural Park of the Elbe Valley is a German nature park east of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. An earlier name is Elbufer- Drawehn, but in a different zoning.
Geography
The nature reserve covers an area after expansion in 2006 from large parts of the district Lüchow -Dannenberg; Furthermore, it includes a small part of the territory in the district of Lüneburg. However Fully Saves is after the new delimitation, the Elbe lowlands (see now: Biosphere Reserve Lower Elbtalaue ). The Natural Park of the Elbe Valley has an area of 1160 km ² and is one of the most sparsely populated areas of Germany.
The former Elbufer- Drawehn had comprises two quite different major regions, which gave him the name:
- The ridge to the west of Drawehn Lüchow -Dannenberg
- The banks of the Elbe in the north of the district Lüchow -Dannenberg and partly in the district of Lüneburg
Both landscapes have been shaped by the Ice Age. Here, the High Drawehn as the terminal moraine of the last glacial period an accumulation of rock boulder, which remained on the edge of a glacier - ice stage. The Elbe Valley on the other hand has been marked as the melting water outlet of the last ice age.
The vegetation of the natural park Wendland Elbhöhen depends on soil relief and texture. The higher, sandy podzolic soils of Drawehn particular of the High Drawehn, were to the 18th century extensive heaths. Today, they are often covered by reforestation of pine forests. On clay soils, there are remains of a natural deciduous forest vegetation, especially in the Goehrde. The better soils have been converted to farmland. The Lüchower lower terrace is part of the Elbe glacial valley and is by now drained and cultivated lowlands dominated (see Biogeophysical main units in Germany: Wendland and Altmark). The eastern end of the nature reserve is the large amount of flight Anda Gartower forest.
History
Was established this park in 1968. On 1 June 2006, the protected area of the Natural Park has been increased to 115 994 hectares, which is almost doubled. The category of natural park provides, however, in Germany no strict nature reserve covered, but is primarily tourist character.