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Elbe-Brandenburg River Landscape Biosphere Reserve

(Biosphärenreservat Flusslandschaft Elbe-Brandenburg)

Size: 533 km²

  • The Elbe valley floodplain – one of the last remaining near-natural fluvial topographies in Central Europe
  • Fascinating nature, culture and history along the Elbe Cycle Route (Elberadweg)
  • Discoveries to be made in the habitat of the beaver, black stork and sea eagle
  • Nature and borderland history to be explored in the Green Belt (Grünes Band)
  • Wild geese and cranes to be observed in an internationally significant migration and resting place for birds
  • Sightings of bitterns, coppers and otters in the Rambower Moor marshland

Wide floodplains, gnarled remains of old alluvial forests, brackish water and rushing water, vast expanses of meadow and grassland, marshland and dunes all give the River Elbe landscape its distinctive character. It provides the optimum habitat for many rare and endangered animal and plant species. The River Elbe landscape is one of the last remaining near-natural fluvial topographies in Central Europe. Some 400 kilometres of the River extending across state frontiers were designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1998, from Torgau on the border of Saxony to south of Lauenburg. The Brandenburg section extends over an area of 53,000 hectares from the mouth of the River Havel to Dömitz and boasts one of the most prized and beautiful landscapes on the River Elbe. Index species characteristic of the region include the white stork, Elbe beaver, sea eagle and fire-bellied toad. Biosphere Reserves are model regions for sustainable development. The main aim of the Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve is to protect the centuries-old cultivated landscape with its characteristic animal and plant species with a view to encouraging sustainable use.

Contact

Biosphärenreservat Flusslandschaft Elbe-Brandenburg
Verwaltung
Neuhaus 9
19322 Rühstädt

Tel.: 038791 980-0
Fax: 038791 980-11
Mail: br-flusslandschaft-elbe @ lua.brandenburg.de

Photographs of the Elbe-Brandenburg River Landscape Biosphere Reserve