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Project of the Month

Our second land purchase for bird conservation on Hiddensee!

With its salt marshes and coastal grasslands, the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee still provides important habitats and valuable foraging grounds for a wide variety of meadow bird species. Yet here too, meadow habitats are under threat of becoming scarcer and falling prey to commercial interests.

As early as 2010, our Foundation was able to secure ecologically valuable areas within the “Dünenheide Hiddensee” nature reserve. Since then, we have been working continuously to preserve this unique habitat. Thanks to the enthusiastic students from the University of Greifswald, we have been able to preserve much of the ecological value of the rare dune heathland in recent years through targeted habitat management measures and have further enhanced it.

However, protecting this unique landscape remains an ongoing task. As well as rare species such as the Woodlark, the Common European Viper, and the Silver-studded Blue, migratory birds such as the Eurasian Curlew also benefit from the unspoilt dune heathland on Hiddensee.

We are therefore delighted that our Foundation recently managed, under considerable time pressure and amid difficult decisions, to purchase a 1.7-hectare plot of salt marsh land, thereby protecting it from potential speculative development. We plan to lease this salt marsh land back to a local farm for extensive grazing once the title has been transferred to the land register. Cattle and sheep will then once again be able to make an important contribution to the maintenance of this sensitive salt marsh habitat and create optimal habitat conditions for highly endangered meadow birds such as the Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Common Snipe and Meadow Pipit.

We need to raise around €39,000 to purchase these salt marshes, including all associated costs. Payment is due as early as mid-June 2026.

Please support our important land purchase project.

Whether you donate 20, 30 or 60 euros – or any other amount – you’ll be helping us to safeguard and develop this valuable salt marsh habitat in the long term.

With our second land purchase on Hiddensee, we are bolstering the protection of endangered meadow bird species whilst sending a clear signal in favour of politically independent and effective nature and species conservation.

Thank you very much for your support!