Land acquisition project: Island of Hiddensee
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Rendezvous of long-distance flyers and vipers

Landscape type (Biotope)

The Baltic Sea Island of Hiddensee, with its almost 17 km long sandy beaches, its sand dunes partly covered with pine trees, the rare dune heath and the constantly changing coastline, is definitely one of the most valuable and beautiful natural landscapes in Germany. Parts of the Baltic Sea Island belong to the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park, which is supplemented by the approx. 75.0 ha Dünenheide Hiddensee (dune heath) Nature Reserve near the village of Vitte. The dune heath is the result of centuries of overuse of the poor, sandy soil by sheep grazing and the use of raw humus from the heath as stable bedding.

Threat factors

Unfortunately, this strictly protected natural idyll is still abused by disruptive leisure activities such as cycling, hiking and photography by those who have little time for nature and its wonderful wildlife, despite the nature reserve regulations in force!

The invasion by woody plants such as Birch, late-flowering Bird Cherry and Blackberry into the open heath areas leads to shading of the herbaceous layer and increased humus formation. This restricts the development of open heathland.

The reasons for and aim of conservation

• Protection of the diverse mosaic of landscape forms and habitats on the island of Hiddensee and thereby its particularly rich natural features.
• Preservation and restoration by maintenance of natural and semi-natural landscape components such as heaths, bogs, sinky, small water bodies, copses, hedges and species-rich meadows.
• Safeguarding these habitats for native and site-specific plant and animal species and their communities.
• Creation and conservation of biotope and network systems, including the protection of stop-over sites for migratory species such as the Eurasian Whimbrel.
• The intact dune heath biotope offers a valuable habitat for the Red-backed Shrike and the endangered Woodlark, the rare and endangered Silver-studded Blue and the Common European Viper, which is now severely endangered nationwide.

Our project commitment

In late autumn 2010, after lengthy negotiations, we succeeded in signing a purchase contract for more than 13,300 m² (1.3 ha) of valuable property in the centre of the Dünenheide Hiddensee (dune heath).

Our ecologically valuable plots of land in the central area of the dune heath include coastline areas, parts of the dune wall and dune heath areas. The latter offer important stop-over and feeding areas, especially for the Eurasian Whimbrel, resident in northern Europe, on its up to 15,000 km long migration, to the coasts of South East Asia and West Africa beginning in July. Here the Whimbrel finds the Crowberry, a dwarf shrub of the dune heath, the berries of which provide vital energy reserves for its long migration journey.

In order to safeguard these unique dune heath biotope areas, we finance biotope-adapted landscape conservation measures such as removal of the late-flowering Bird Cherry and the rejuvenation of the partially over-aged heathland by backbreaking hand-weeding, to tear out the old heather bushes, so that open areas for resettlement and rejuvenation of the heath are created.

We are very interested in the purchase of further property plots in the Dünenheide Hiddensee (dune heath) nature reserve.

Dominant species (Fauna/Flora)

Eurasian Whimbrel, Red-backed Shrike, Crested Lark, Silver-studded Blue, Common European Viper

Your donation helps us to purchase further ecologically-valuable plots of land.