Barneführer Holz und Schreensmoor, Nature reserve in Hatten, Wardenburg and Großenkneten, Germany.
Barneführer Holz und Schreensmoor is a 238-hectare nature reserve in the Hunte valley between Huntlosen and Sandkrug, designated NSG WE 240 on 5 April 2003. It protects near-natural woodland such as alder-ash floodplain forest and hardwood floodplain forest, plus swamps and wet meadows. The area is used for forestry and agriculture.
The forest name refers to the Bernefuer noble family, which held manorial and property rights around Wardenburg from the 14th century. The area became a nature reserve on 5 April 2003 under the designation NSG WE 240, with the Oldenburg district as the responsible lower nature conservation authority. In November 2019 the neighbouring Mittlere Hunte reserve was created, absorbing the Hunte section and reducing this reserve from 251 to 238 hectares.
The forest name "Holz" records that the woodland already existed when the noble Bernefuer family held property rights around Wardenburg, documented since the 14th century. The reserve is used for forestry and agriculture as well as for local recreation, and several forest and hiking trails cross it.
The reserve lies in the Hunte valley between Huntlosen and Sandkrug. Several forest and hiking trails cross it, and it also serves local recreation. The area is used for forestry and agriculture, so stay on the paths.
The Douglas fir by the forest hut was planted in the 1840s and was designated a natural monument in 2000; it counts among the oldest of its kind in Germany. The tree stands at the forestry hut inside the reserve, which was itself placed under protection on 5 April 2003.
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