Nature conservation

Here you will find everything you need to know about nature and landscape conservation in outdoor areas.

Twelve nature reserves have been designated in Aachen's urban area. Habitats and wild animals and plants are under special protection in the total area of 471 hectares (ha). The "Brander Wald" area is also included in the "Natura 2000" network in accordance with the "Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive" of the European Union (EU).

Aachen nature reserves

Pretty close!

With a series of leaflets, the Climate and Environment Department draws attention to the beauty of nature in our homeland. Under the title "Ganz schön nah! Experience nature in..." brochures have already been published with the special features of nature in Brand, Eilendorf, Kornelimünster/Walheim, Haaren, Laurensberg and Richterich/Horbach.

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Landscapes

Today, Aachen's agricultural and forestry landscape is still predominantly characterized by a small-scale, mosaic-like structure, which is also typical of neighbouring Belgium. Such a rich landscape structure with a multitude of different resources provides the basis for a high level of biological diversity. Such a landscape can still be found in large areas, especially in the southern part of Aachen. The grassland farming that is characteristic of the Voreifel has maintained the open landscape. It is characterized by scattered wooded areas, stream valleys, fruit tree belts on the outskirts of villages and, above all, a rich structure of hedgerows. The area of the Aachen Soers can also be assigned to this landscape type. In the north of Aachen, on the other hand, arable farming predominates. Only remnants of the original small-scale structure have been preserved here. This has resulted in wide, open spaces in the fields, which do not correspond to the landscape outlined above, but in their current form provide a suitable habitat for several rare and endangered animal and plant species of the open fields.

Green connections

Due to intensive agricultural use, forests in particular are affected by the loss of islands. This loss of hedges and copses due to increasingly intensive use has consequences for the fauna of the remaining forest islands: Many animal species are often unable to form viable populations in the long term, as the remaining habitat has become too small for this. Less mobile species are also unable to recolonize isolated forest islands if their population has died out in this location. The creation of corridors with small areas of woodland and broad, linear secondary biotopes counteracts such a development. These include hedges, wooded railroad embankments and copses. In Aachen, the wooded Höckerlinie, the former Westwall, is also an important connecting element.

Urban biotopes

Urban biotopes are open spaces in the city that have exceptional resources and are often characterized by a special biodiversity or the occurrence of rare animal and plant species. These can be fallow land and railway tracks, old orchards, parks and cemeteries with old wood. Individual old street trees (inner-city natural monuments, space-defining urban trees) can also sometimes have a similar character. In addition to their significance for inner-city biodiversity, these biotopes are of great importance for the green supply of the inner city. A so-called biotope network generally creates a system that links similar biotopes and enables an exchange of plants and animals. One example of this is the linking of forests through hedges and copses. The phenomenon of habitat isolation has led to the decline of less mobile species in recent years. These are closely adapted to the often isolated habitats and are frequently displaced by species with unspecific ecological requirements. In order to preserve the diversity of site-typical species in the long term, the creation of a biotope network concept is necessary in addition to the pure protection of near-natural areas.

Cultural landscape program

Colourful flowering and species-rich meadows and pastures as well as orchards and hedges are valuable habitats for native animal and plant species and an important, evolved part of our cultural landscape. Due to today's intensive agriculture with frequent fertilization and higher livestock numbers, these structures are highly endangered.

The City of Aachen's Cultural Landscape Program (KULAP) aims to counteract this development. In cooperation with farmers, the extensification of grassland and arable land, the maintenance of orchards and hedges as well as other biotopes is promoted. This extensification entails additional work and loss of yield, but more nature-friendly management is in the interests of society as a whole.

The city of Aachen therefore supports the work of the farmers with state and EU funds as part of a voluntary management contract over five years.

Currently, 30 farms are participating in what is known as contractual nature conservation and have become reliable partners in nature conservation. A total of around 160 hectares (ha) are farmed organically (as of January 2025).

Contractual nature conservation in North Rhine-Westphalia

Further topics