A major Weser river floodplain sanctuary for migratory, breeding, and wintering waterbirds in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Weseraue Bird Protection Area
Weseraue is a designated European Union Bird Protection Area (Special Protection Area, SPA) covering roughly 27 square kilometers of the Weser river floodplain in the eastern Westphalian district of Minden-Lübbecke, in the northeastern part of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Established in 1983 and administered by the Regierungspräsidium Detmold, the site stretches for about 25 kilometers along the Weser, from the lock canal south of Petershagen to the border with Lower Saxony near Schlüsselburg, and includes the Lahder Marsch and two separate sub-areas.
The protected area is widely regarded as one of the most important breeding, moulting, staging, migration, and wintering sites in North Rhine-Westphalia, particularly for waterbirds and waders. Its mix of free-flowing and dammed river stretches, oxbows, floodplain meadows, marshland, reedbeds, and adjacent farmland creates a mosaic of habitats that supports nationally important populations of species such as Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye, European Golden Plover, and many migratory geese, ducks, and waders, especially during severe winters when the Weser rarely freezes completely.
The site sits within the broader Natura 2000 network and is closely linked to several overlapping nature reserves, including the Naturschutzgebiet Weseraue, the Staustufe Schlüsselburg nature reserve, the Windheimer Marsch, the Häverner Marsch, and the Grube Baltus quarry pond complex, forming a coherent ecological corridor along the middle Weser.
