De Wieden
General Description
The nature reserve De Wieden is part of the national park Weerribben-Wieden in the province of Overjissel. The size of the site is about 6.000 ha. It is registered as a Special Protected Area (SPA).
Quaking bog of the De Wieden reserve
(Photo: Ralf Schulte/NABU)
A habitat-diverse site comprising shallow small and bigger freshwater lakes and numerous canals established by peat extraction activities mainly in 18th and 19th centuries, reedbeds, fens, wooded peatlands and non-wooded ones, and wet meadows. De Wieden is the most extensive lowland peatland in northwestern Europe. It is also a habitat for several rare and endangered species and communities. It acts as a water storage reservoir from drains of the surrounding polders and provides water for irrigation. Among the main human uses are tourism (with a visitors' centre), angling, boating, commercial fisheries, farming, and reed harvest. The site is threatened by drainage due to groundwater abstraction and intensive farming in the surrounding polders.
The thickness of the floating vegetation mat
(Photo: Ralf Schulte/NABU)
The project started in 2010 and was finished in 2012.