A river and reservoir landscape at the Aare, Rhine confluence, recognized as a landscape of national significance and one of Switzerland's most important waterbird areas.
Aarelandschaft bei Klingnau
The Aarelandschaft bei Klingnau is a protected landscape of national significance in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, covering the final stretch of the Aare before it empties into the Rhine near Koblenz. Listed as object 1109 in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN), the area combines the artificial Klingnauer Stausee reservoir with surviving remnants of the original riverine floodplain, along with side channels, gravel islands, wet meadows, and alluvial forest.
Although much of the visible landscape is shaped by human intervention, particularly the late-19th-century river correction and the construction of the Klingnau hydroelectric power station between 1931 and 1935, the mosaic of open water, reedbeds, wet meadows, and dry habitats supports an exceptionally rich biodiversity. More than 300 bird species have been recorded here, and the area is internationally recognized as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and as a Ramsar wetland site.
The protected landscape spans the municipalities of Böttstein, Döttingen, Klingnau, Koblenz, and Leuggern in the district of Zurzach, and extends to the national border with Germany. Beyond its ecological importance, the Aarelandschaft bei Klingnau also acts as a regional recreation area, a key node in the ecological infrastructure of the northern Jura, and a focal point of ongoing conservation work in the Aargau floodplain protection park.
