A quiet oxbow of the middle Fulda valley, protecting one of Hesse's few remaining near-natural still waters.
Alte Fulda bei Asbach Nature Reserve
Alte Fulda bei Asbach is a small nature reserve in the county of Hersfeld-Rotenburg in the German state of Hesse. It protects a partially silted oxbow of the Fulda river, together with the surrounding wet meadows, reedbeds, and softwood floodplain forests of the middle Fulda valley. Although the protected area covers only about twelve hectares, it is regarded as one of the few larger near-natural still water bodies that remain in this stretch of the river.
The reserve is part of a layered network of protections. It lies within the Lower and Middle Fulda Floodplain Fauna-Flora-Habitat site, the Fuldatal zwischen Rotenburg und Niederaula European Bird Protection Area, and the Auenverbund Fulda landscape protection area. Together these designations connect the small site to a much larger effort to preserve floodplain dynamics, species-rich meadows, and characteristic riparian habitats along the Fulda.
Ecologically, the site is valued for its floating-leaf vegetation, its populations of endangered plant species in wet grassland, and its importance for breeding and resting birds, amphibians, dragonflies, and butterflies. The Dark Large Blue butterfly uses the Great Burnet in the meadows as its caterpillars' food plant, making the reserve a notable reproduction habitat for this threatened species.
