Haidmühle (Germany) - Awarded in 2015

The municipality of Haidmühle, with a population of around 1,300, is located in the district of Freyung-Grafenau and lies on the 346-kilometer-long Green Belt Bavaria-Czech Republic, in the immediate vicinity of the cross-border Bavarian Forest/Šumava National Park. ‘The people of Haidmühle show how nature and cultural landscape conservation works in practice. In 1999, the community took over sponsorship of the ’Bischofsreuter Waldhufen' project, which was launched in 1996 by the Landesbund für Vogel- und Naturschutz in Bayern e.V. and Friends of the Earth in cooperation with the government of Lower Bavaria. This led to a wide range of activities, from biotope maintenance to creative artistic engagement with local history.

Haidmühle serves as a role model for other communities along the European Green Belt,' said Prof. Hubert Weiger, at that time 1^st Chairman of Friends of the Earth in Bavaria. In 2000, the community voluntarily registered 967 hectares, equivalent to 45% of the municipal area, as a Natura 2000 site and founded the ‘Association for the Preservation of the Cultural Landscape of Bischofsreuter Waldhufen.’ Since then, local farmers have been working with great personal commitment to preserve species-rich, colorful mountain meadows or forest-free, wet moorland areas, some of which can only be cultivated with special equipment. ‘The Bischofsreuter Waldhufen are among the most important low mountain range landscapes in Germany in terms of fauna and botany. The BayernNetzNatur project ’Bischofsreuter Waldhufen' is one of the largest nature conservation projects in Bavaria supported by a single municipality. The enormous commitment of the municipality and its citizens to preserving the natural treasures of their homeland is exemplary far beyond Lower Bavaria' says Stefan Radlmair, head of nature conservation at the government of Lower Bavaria.
 

For more information, please contact: 

National BUND Competence Centre Green Belt: Melanie Kreutz; melanie.kreutz(at)bund-naturschutz.de, Phone: +49 911 5752940

Photos of Haidmühle municipality