Protected areas

The Kellerwald-Edersee National Park lies in the north of our nature park. Just like the nature park itself, it is one of the National Natural Landscapes and has its own independent administration.
As one of 16 national parks across Germany, it has the task of “letting nature be nature”. Interference with nature is reduced to an absolute minimum here. This means that old stands of beech and oak trees can be preserved in the long term as an indispensable source of livelihood for red kites, black storks, woodpeckers and eagle owls, rare bats as well as wood-dwelling insects and fungi.
But this also requires us, the visitors, to behave particularly carefully. For example, you may not leave the designated paths, you may not take plants with you and you may not light campfires.

Another category found within the nature park is the "classic" nature reserve. These are designated areas where special protection of nature and landscape is necessary for the preservation, development, or restoration of biotopes and communities of specific animal and plant species. Nature reserves are significantly smaller in area than national parks, but are similarly strictly protected. Generally, the same rules of conduct apply.

Natura 2000 forms another important category of protected areas in the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park. This category comprises the areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. Together, they constitute Europe's largest network of protected areas. Within the Natura 2000 sites, certain rare plants, animals, habitats, and all bird species are subject to special protection.

Bird sanctuaries

The bird sanctuaries, or VSG for short, protect all bird species that live in the Birds Directive are listed. In the nature park you can find, for example, the eagle owl, the kingfisher and the black stork, as well as representatives of the falcons and buzzards. Measures that improve the conservation status should be promoted and measures that worsen the conservation status should be avoided.

Examples:

• Edersee shore near Herzhausen
• Affoldern reservoir
• Ederaue
• Old field near Dainrode
• Kellerwald

Fauna-flora habitats

The situation is similar in the fauna-flora-habitat areas (FFH). Certain plants, animals or habitats are protected here Habitats Directive are listed. Animal representatives include lynx, stag beetles, fire salamanders and a variety of butterflies and fish. In addition, plants such as the orchid, or entire habitats such as moors, beech forests, rock complexes and poor grassland areas.

Examples:

• High cellar
• Sondertal and valley ditch near Bad Wildungen
• Special rain near Bad Wildungen
• Schrummbachsrain and Kalkrain near Giflitz
• Bilstein near Bad Wildungen
• Kellerwald
• Edersee steep slopes
• Edersee shore near Herzhausen
• Heath at the top mill near Frankenau
• Poor grassland complex on Mittelberg near Frankenau
• Affoldern reservoir

Natural monuments are specially protected for scientific, natural history, or regional studies reasons, as well as due to their rarity. These are usually landscape-defining relics from (cultural) historical times and, unlike the previously mentioned categories, consist of individual point objects or small areas. In the nature park area, these are often old solitary trees, such as the cemetery firs in Asel, or the well-known Halloh wood-pasture near Albertshausen and the Buchenberg near Vöhl.