A fragmented mosaic of dystrophic lakes, kettle bogs, inland dunes, and former Spree floodplain meadows within the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve.
Meiereisee und Kriegbuschwiesen Nature Reserve
Meiereisee und Kriegbuschwiesen is a small but ecologically rich nature reserve in southern Brandenburg, Germany, established in 2000 and jointly designated as both a German Naturschutzgebiet and a European Fauna-Flora-Habitat (FFH) site. It lies within the municipality of Krausnick-Groß Wasserburg in the Dahme-Spreewald district and forms part of the broader Spreewald Biosphere Reserve, one of Germany's most important wetland regions.
The reserve is not a single contiguous block but a mosaic of four separate parcels spread across the southern part of the municipal area. Its landscapes include a nutrient-rich dystrophic lake in an advanced state of terrestrialization, an acidic kettle bog, inland sand dunes overgrown with pine, oak and hornbeam forests, and former floodplain meadows of the Spree river system. This unusual combination of mire, dune, fen, and floodplain habitats compressed into a compact area gives the site unusual ecological breadth.
The reserve is notable for its protected plant species and for a fauna that includes rare amphibians, reptiles, breeding cranes, white-tailed eagles, otters, and several bat species of high conservation concern. It serves as a refuge for wetland- and bog-dependent species that have otherwise become scarce in the intensively used agricultural landscapes of the surrounding Brandenburg countryside.
