A river, lake and marsh reserve in Lower Saxony centred on waters used as hunting grounds by the pond bat.
Teichfledermausgewässer
Teichfledermausgewässer is a nature reserve (Naturschutzgebiet) in the district of Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony, Germany, spread across the municipalities of Loxstedt, Hagen im Bremischen and Beverstedt. The reserve covers around 633 hectares of lowland rivers, oxbows, former clay and gravel pits, wet meadows and small woodlands between the cities of Bremerhaven and Bremen. Its name refers to the pond bat (Teichfledermaus), a rare bat species that hunts over standing and slow-moving waters; protecting functioning water bodies and their margins is at the heart of the protected area's purpose.
The landscape is shaped by the tidal-influenced Weser system and by the smaller rivers Lune, Drepte, Gackau and Aschwardener Flutgraben, all of which flow through a mosaic of reedbeds, wet grasslands, brook and moor forests, and former extraction sites. The site overlaps with the European Habitats Directive area "Teichfledermausgewässer im Raum Bremerhaven/Bremen" and, along the Right Side Channel of the Weser, with the EU Birds Directive site "Unterweser".
Ecologically, the reserve is important for marsh and water birds, amphibians and fish, while serving as a hunting habitat for the pond bat and a refuge for the Eurasian otter. Designated as a nature reserve on 21 December 2018 and administered by the Landkreis Cuxhaven, it connects to a wider network of protected areas along the Lower Weser, including the adjoining Schwanewede section of the same Habitats Directive site, the Unterwesermarsch reserve and the Tideweser reserve.
