Profile of the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park

The third largest national park in Germany is a baltic sea national park

It covers 786 km², in other words 78,600 hectares. The chain of islands in the Baltic Sea, from Darss to the Bug peninsula on Rügen, stretches about 60 km from east to west. Over 80 % of the national park is comprised of the Baltic Sea itself and the Bodden, the briny lagoons of the Baltic Sea.

Share of landscape types in the national park
Share of landscape types in the national park
Landschaft in Bewegung: Sandhaken formen die junge Insellandschaft © Peter Prast
Landschaft in Bewegung

Landscape in motion

The unbridled energy of the wind and waves carries the coasts away, transporting sand and depositing it elsewhere. This creates wind flats, sand hooks and, in the end, a mosaic of dunes, saltwater ponds and swamps. This dynamic development of the coastal landscape is a hallmark of the national park.

3 Sandregenpfeifer am Ostseestrand im Nationalpark Boddenlandschaft © Klaus Haase

Rich in Nature

Change is the order of the day in the typical habitats Baltic Sea, exposed tidal flats, heather, bogs and forest. Animal species large and small, from the red deer to the blue moor frog, find exclusive habitats here, spread over a large area.

Feathered residents and visitors roost here in their thousands. The spectacle of cranes occurs every year throughout autumn and attracts more and more nature lovers. In winter little red knots hurry across the beach; they are not the only winter guests from the Arctic. Wide reed belts blur the transition between water and land. The realm of the bittern and marsh harrier stretches to here.

Herring, garfish and many others use the shallow lagoon waters as nurseries.

Buchen im Kiefernwald © K. Bärwald
From pine to beech forest

From dunes to forest

Pines germinate in the dune sands and prepare the way for rustic beech forests. Extensive alder forests grow in the swamps between the dunes. Particular flora especially feel at home in the dunes and bogs.

The national park's Protection Zones

 

Core Zone (Zone1)

This zone is comprised of the most valuable wilderness areas where natural development has priority. Paths must be strictly adhered to here.

Development Zones (Zone2)

Here, targeted interventions are implemented to return the landscape to wilderness step by step.

Maintenance Zones

Particularly rare types of landscape, such as salt grass meadows and heaths, are grazed on selected areas in order to preserve the area's typical flora and fauna. The percentage of maintenance zones in national parks can be around 1/4 of the area.