Former Apricke military training area

"... The North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation acquired the former Apricke site training area in 2007 for nature conservation purposes. Today, the area is looked after by the Märkischer Kreis nature conservation center in cooperation with the city of Hemer.A look into the adjacent quarry to the north shows the geological subsurface of the area: it consists largely of central Devonian mass limestone. The light-colored, hard sedimentary rock was formed from the deposits of a sea that covered parts of the Rhineland and Westphalia around 380 million years ago. When the sun is shining, the shallow soils warm up very quickly. In the
species-rich plant cover is therefore dominated by grasses, herbs and perennials, the warmth and
Tolerates drought well. The abandoned military training operations and the declining agricultural use were the reasons that the flower-colored grasslands slowly overgrown with bushes. In order to preserve the traditional landscape and to improve the conditions for the flora and fauna, the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation and the city acquired
Hemer opened the approximately 2½ square kilometer square in 2007, thereby securing it permanently for nature conservation and local recreation.
Since then, the area has been looked after by the nature conservation center Märkischer Kreis e.V. ... "Further information:
naturschutzzentrum-mk.de/projekte/heckrinder/aprickenatur-erleben-nrw.de/natura-2000/regionen-und-gebiete-in-nrw/details/felsenmeer-und-ehemaliger-standortuebungsplatz-apricke
archiv.nrw-stiftung.de/projekte/projekt.php?pid=598