Tinner Dose-Sprakeler Heide, Protected area in Emsland, Germany.
Tinner Dose-Sprakeler Heide is a 3,955-hectare nature reserve in the Emsland district, designated in 2012 from the Tinner and Staverner Dose and Sprakeler Heide reserves. The Tinner and Staverner Dose is a largely treeless raised bog drained by ditches, with hand-cut peat only at its edges. The Sprakeler Heide is a heath on sandy geest soil and inland dunes, the largest common heather area in Emsland. The whole reserve lies inside the Meppen military training area.
The area was officially designated as a protected zone in 2012, merging two existing conservation zones into one. Military use since 1877 unexpectedly preserved the landscape from industrial development.
In the southeast of the Sprakeler Heide, the Hügelgräberfeld Sprakeler Heide holds numerous burial mounds and one well-preserved stone grave. The mounds lie on sandy geest soil among heather and juniper. The site is within the Meppen military training area, so it can only be viewed from outside.
The entire reserve lies inside the Meppen military training range of the WTD 91, so there is no public access and no marked trails or guided tours; entry is only possible with official permission. The open bog and heath can be viewed from the surrounding paths near Lathen, Sögel and Meppen. The ground is wet and peaty, and the 2018 fire left scarred, partly cleared surfaces.
The region holds West Lower Saxony's largest undisturbed raised bog, preserved only because its location on military grounds prevented peat extraction. This makes the site a rare natural treasure in an otherwise developed landscape.
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