Wildes Moor bei Schwabstedt, Protected wetland area in Schwabstedt, Germany.
Wildes Moor bei Schwabstedt is a 631-hectare nature reserve north of Schwabstedt, about 15 km east of Husum. It is a raised bog with surrounding wet grassland and open water, stretching 3.5 km north to south and 3.8 km west to east. The bog is enclosed by the Ostenfelder Geest on three sides and opens east toward the Treene floodplain.
Agricultural drainage in the 19th century severely damaged the moor and reduced its peat reserves. Protection and restoration efforts began later to reverse this degradation and allow the wetland ecosystem to recover.
Locals call the moor Den hvide mose, the white bog, after the pale colour of its peat, which burned with less heat than darker peat from fens to the north. Farmers therefore often had to buy fuel peat elsewhere. Today marked hiking trails cross the area.
Several marked hiking trails run through the Vildmose, and the surrounding moraine landscape of the Ostenfelder Geest frames the moor to the north, west and south. The open grassland towards the Treene lies to the east. Restoration since the 1980s left former drainage channels and paths from peat digging across the area.
Locals call the moor "Den hvide mose", the white bog, because its peat is pale and burns poorly; farmers often had to buy darker peat from fens further north. The drained, cut-over surface also sank and compacted after the water was withdrawn.
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