View of the Schmutter River in the Schmutterauen

The “Schmuttertal” biodiversity project covers almost 900 hectares of almost the entire FFH area of the same name. The almost uneven Schmutter meanders for 36 kilometers from Fischach to Täfertingen and regularly floods the adjacent Schmutteraue. For a long time, these floods and the subdivision of the fields with numerous ditches were a guarantee that the Schmutterwiesen were only managed extensively. As a result, a high-quality habitat with numerous rare animal and plant species was preserved. Examples of this are species-rich lowland hay meadows, pipe grass litter meadows with carnation and globe flower, on which rare birds such as stonechat and meadow pipit find suitable living conditions. The ditches created to drain the meadows and their edges are a retreat for numerous fish species as well as common frogs, pond frogs and various dragonflies.