Establishment of year-round grazing in the Hainich National Park to implement NATURA 2000 objectives

The Hainich National Park is part of the European NATURA 2000 network of protected areas, which means that there is an obligation to preserve the protected species and open land habitats found in the area.

The extensive year-round grazing of a 120-hectare area on the Kindel in the Hainich National Park is intended to create suitable biotope structures for the yellow-bellied toad, the northern crested newt and the golden fritillary butterfly. These species of open land are highly endangered and have a distribution focus in the national park. They all require structurally rich areas with many disturbance points such as raw soils and small bodies of water.

Year-round grazing with large grazing animals creates such structures. The project is accompanied by a scientific success control to evaluate the achievement of the objectives. The project is part of the funding for nature and landscape development projects (ENL). Here, Europe and the Free State of Thuringia are investing in rural areas