The Leyhörn is a nature reserve on the peninsula of the same name, which was created in 1991 as part of coastal protection measures[1] in the south of the Leybucht in the Lower Saxony municipality of Krumhörn in the Aurich district.
The nature reserve with the designation NSG WE 220 is 646 hectares in size. A large part of the nature reserve is part of the EU bird sanctuary "Krummhörn". To the south and southeast it partially borders on the landscape protection area "Krummhörn". The area has been a nature reserve since December 3, 1994. The responsible lower nature conservation authority is the Aurich district.
The nature reserve northwest of Greetsiel includes the entire headland with the Leyhörn reservoir, the Leyhörner Sieltief and the Leysiel, as well as the ponds near Hauen. The latter were created on an area of approximately 65 hectares of previously agricultural land by removing clay for the construction of the dyke and were then designed to be as natural as possible.[2] To the east of the Leysiel, the nature reserve borders directly on the quiet zone (Zone I) of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park. To the west of the Leysiel, the dyke is excluded from the nature reserve. However, certain protection regulations apply to it.
The area of the nature reserve was created after the mid-1980s through dyking measures, after the entire Leybucht was dyked in the mid-1960s to protect the coast in response to flood disasters in the Netherlands and Hamburg, thus significantly shortening the dyke line.
Source: Wikipedia