The nature reserve has a size of around 204.7 ha, it includes the old Rhine "Kleiner Bodensee" and the quarry pond and was designated in June 1985!
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The main protection purpose is the preservation of a typical Rhine floodplain area of the meander zone with the old Rhine arm "Kleiner Bodensee", with extensive reed areas and softwood and hardwood floodplain forests as a habitat for numerous endangered plant and animal communities.
Hunting and fishing are partly permitted in the nature reserve
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The nature reserve is part of the fauna-flora-habitat "Rhine lowlands from Karlsruhe to Philippsburg" (No. 6816-341) with an area of 4655.83 hectares and lies in the natural areas of the Upper Rhine Lowland and Rhine-Main Lowland.
It is therefore part of the Natura 2000 network. It was created as part of the LIFE (EU) project “Lebendige Rheinauen bei Karlsruhe”.
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There are over 500 species of plants and 130 species of birds in the nature reserve.
In summer the Old Rhine is covered by rosettes of leaves from the rare water nut. In addition, the area has dense reed beds, swampy reeds and, at times, dry areas of mud. Silver willow forests grow on low-lying banks, and hardwood meadows are found on less flooded areas. Oak and hornbeam forests grow at higher altitudes. The dam is also a valuable habitat with its dry and semi-arid environmental conditions.
The gravel islands and shallow water zones are particularly valuable for amphibian and bird species, whose natural habitat is characterized by raw soil and steep banks. The lakes are surrounded by near-natural forests, in which several species of woodpecker and the oriole can be found.
Since the Alb carries wastewater from a sewage treatment plant, the nature reserve can be polluted during floods. This can lead to nutrient enrichment and silting up.
(Excerpts from LUBW and Wikipedia)