The core area “Frankenau and Wesetal” differs significantly from the other three core areas with its large proportion of open land.
The varied cultural landscape is characterized by numerous valleys with natural watercourses and a high proportion of extensively used meadows and pastures. The well-structured Wesebach and a wet meadow complex in the Weidengrund achieve the highest value due to their faunistic and floristic features. Silicate lean grasslands and heaths with development potential enrich the value of the natural area.
Bristly grass lawns, juniper heaths, wet meadows and hedges contribute to the good structure of the funding area. Individual forest complexes with valuable springs, wet and floodplain forests, log heaps and rocky cliffs as well as individual remnants of former forms of use such as low, medium and high forest management complement the open land biotopes.
As a rural low mountain landscape, the focus of the measures was on the development and promotion of extensive grassland biotopes such as species-rich submontane smooth oat meadows, red fescue poor meadows, wet and alluvial meadows as well as bristly grass lawns and heaths. To the east of Frankenau there are several complexes of measures that can be summarized as the “arch landscape near Frankenau”. By purchasing land as part of land consolidation, a large number of areas in this area have already been renatured and further developed. In particular, bush removal measures and intensive cooperation with the managers of the open areas have been and will continue to be major work-intensive focuses in the future. In open areas, continuous extensive management of the areas is important for the preservation of biotopes and species and can therefore be viewed as a permanent task that can never be completed. The creation of Hesse's first Arche region according to the GEH standard (Society for the Preservation of Old and Endangered Domestic Animal Breeds) and networking with regional development and value creation initiatives play a role in long-term security of care and use measures as well as operational and framework structures Advising land users plays a central role.
The small-scale structures in the core area also include some forest areas and complexes of measures with different objectives. A challenge in implementation was the different ownership structures and, in some cases, the owners' lack of willingness to implement the measures.
What should be highlighted in this core area is the very positive development in terms of the identity and awareness of the local people for a unique space in the cultural landscape. With the founding and establishment of the Arche Association, the Arche Path and the Archetag, which takes place every two years, a significant step was taken towards the preservation of old farm animal breeds.