Renaturalization Project Leckermoos

"Leckermoos“, one of the largest and most beautiful bogs in Lower Austria, has previously suffered by various human interventions. From 1939 to 1941 drainage ditches have been moated, about 100 m3 of peat have been cut and during the 1970s, the headland has been reforested by spruce. From 2004 to 2006 the administration of "Wilderness Dürrenstein“ has carried out a project on behalf of the community of Göstling/Ybbs, to recreate the bog. The administration of "Wilderness Dürrenstein“ will furthermore ensure an undisturbed existence of the bog.

Update

The renaturalization project "Leckermoos“ has been successfully completed in July 2006 by a celebration, where Landesrat DI Josef Plank and Landesrat Emil Schabel were present. At this occasion the new bog adventure trail was opened and a mascot was launched: the rare bog species Cranberry fritillary (Boloria aquilonaris), a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, who’s habitat is the "Leckermoos“.
Details are included in the final report.
Aspiring filmmaker Friedrich Rischer has produced a breathtaking film on the bustling life of the idyllic bog "Leckermoos“. It was presented to the public in Göstling/Ybbs on Friday, May 2nd, 2008.

Aims and Measures

The project region covers in total an area of approximately 25 ha; at the centre there are about 9 ha of highmoor and in its periphery valuable remains of the former cultural landscape. Due to the project the bog hydrology is to be improved, a belt of extensively utilized buffer-areas is to be set up and the gradual degradation of the highmoor is to be anulled. Simultanuously the bog should represent a very attractive, but also nature conserving destination for guided tours.

Measures that have been taken for these purposes:

• drainage ditches have been damed up by dikes made of larch wood and therefore the waterlevel has been raised to the necessary extent.
• central parts of the bog have been cut free of pines and spruces, which had started to overgrow the highmoor, thus contributing to an imminent desiccation.
• the spruce forests in the South of the bog have been cleared and substituted by wet meadows with a high biodiversity.
• The spruce forests at the bog’s headlands have been thinned out in order to enable regrowing of alder - and birch forest mires, typical for this habitat.
• The wet meadows bordering the bog are being cultivated again - sustainably and extensively.
• An adventure trail with a footbridge path surrounding the bog has been constructed for visitors. It provides information on the significance of bogs and prevents any trespassing of the susceptible highmoor region of "Leckermoos“.