Schwarzes Moor bei Resse, Nature reserve near Hannover, Germany

Schwarzes Moor bei Resse is a nature reserve located between Garbsen and Wedemark covering around 140 hectares of pine-birch bog forests and open moor areas with heather and cotton grass. The reserve connects to the Resser Stream in the east and the Auter River in the south through a system of drainage channels.

The Schwarzes Moor bei Resse has been a protected nature reserve since 9 December 1993, under the code NSG HA 162. The high moor was drained and partly cut for peat by farmers until the 1950s, leaving narrow hand-cut peat banks separated by dams. Since 2016 a planning approval under the LIFE+ project Hannoversche Moorgeest has provided for rewetting, with old drainage removed and new dams and weirs built.

The name Schwarzes Moor refers to the dark peat; locals dug hand peat cuts here until the 1950s, leaving narrow parallel strips now overgrown with pine and birch on the dams between them. The Landesjägerschaft Niedersachsen looks after the reserve, and information boards on site explain the rewetting work.

The reserve is easy to reach and offers pathways for walking through the moorland in different seasons. Spring and summer provide the most comfortable visiting conditions when the ground is drier and wildlife is most active.

The Landesjägerschaft Niedersachsen, the state hunters' association, is responsible for looking after the reserve. Its open heath and moorland are kept open by targeted removal of scrub and young trees, so the heather and cotton grass areas depend on continued management rather than being left untouched.