Burlo-Vardingholter Venn/Entenschlatt, Nature reserve in Borken and Rhede, Germany

The Burlo-Vardingholter Venn and Entenschlatt is a 148-hectare nature reserve on the German-Dutch border in the districts of Borken and Rhede. Its core is a regenerating raised bog with hummock-hollow complexes and former peat cuttings; around 45 hectares are birch and alder carr, and the Entenschlatt is a silted heath pond ringed by carr woodland. On the Dutch side it continues without a break as the 67-hectare Wooldse Veen.

In 1765 the Burlo Convention, signed at Mariengarden Monastery, fixed the border through the moor; boundary stones of Bentheim sandstone, the "Fürstensteine", were set up in 1766, with the prince-bishop's coat of arms on the Münsterland side and the Guelders lion on the Dutch side. In 1937, 77.1 hectares were declared a nature reserve; the Borken-Nord landscape plan of 2001 enlarged it to its present 148 hectares, absorbing the Entenschlatt heath pond.

The reserve's name comes from the neighbouring villages of Burlo and Vardingholt, and it is also called Klostervenn after Mariengarden Monastery in Burlo. The 1765 Burlo Convention, signed at that monastery, fixed the border, and the "Fürstensteine" boundary stones of Bentheim sandstone set up in 1766 still stand in the bog, bearing the prince-bishop's coat of arms on the Münster side and the Guelders lion on the Dutch side.

Entry to the core area is limited during breeding season from mid-March to mid-June to protect nesting and migrating birds. Walking is permitted only on marked paths to keep the sensitive habitats safe.

The reserve lies directly on the Dutch border and continues without a break into the 67-hectare Wooldse Veen on the Gelderland side. Boundary stones set up after the 1765 Burlo Convention still stand in the bog: the "Fürstensteine" of Bentheim sandstone carry the prince-bishop's coat of arms on the Münsterland side and the Guelders lion with the year 1766 on the Dutch side.