A small floodplain nature reserve born from former gravel workings along the Fulda River.
Im Sand bei Rotenburg
Im Sand bei Rotenburg is a small nature reserve in the Middle Fulda Valley, located northwest of the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It sits within the floodplain of the Fulda River, bounded by the river to the south and a railway line to the north, and forms part of a broader landscape protection area known as the Auenverbund Fulda.
The reserve centers on a former gravel extraction site that, after mining ceased in the mid-1990s, gradually developed into a complex mosaic of aquatic, wetland, and floodplain habitats. By combining the resulting gravel pit lake with adjacent old river arms, softwood floodplain forest, reedbeds, tall herb vegetation, successional areas, fallow land, and grassland, the area has become a compact but ecologically rich refuge in an otherwise heavily modified river landscape.
Although modest in size at roughly 10 hectares, the protected area has gained regional importance for its birdlife and for the role it plays in reconnecting the Fulda floodplain. Renaturation efforts tied to flood mitigation after the January 1995 flood have reinforced its value as a habitat for waterbirds, including several threatened species recorded as regular migrants and winter visitors.
