A cluster of glacial lakes in Brandenburg protected for their quiet waterbody habitats and biodiversity.
Kastavenseen-Molkenkammersee
Kastavenseen-Molkenkammersee is a small nature reserve in the German state of Brandenburg, set within the broader lake-rich landscape of the Uckermark and the southern edge of the Mecklenburg Lake District. The protected area is built around a closely grouped set of four lakes: the Großer Kastavensee, the Kleiner Kastavensee, the Oberkastavensee, and the Molkenkammersee. Together they form a compact mosaic of open water, marginal wetlands, and surrounding forest that has been shielded from more intensive land use.
Administratively the reserve spans the territories of the towns of Fürstenberg/Havel in the Landkreis Oberhavel and Lychen in the Landkreis Uckermark, sitting near the regional border with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its designation as a Naturschutzgebiet reflects the regional importance of relatively undisturbed lake ecosystems in an otherwise heavily modified cultural landscape, and it works in concert with a chain of neighboring protected areas along the Brandenburg side of the border.
Though modest in size, the reserve is a useful example of the kind of lake-and-forest protection system that characterizes the area between Lychen, Fürstenberg, and the Havel river headwaters. It complements larger and better-known Brandenburg reserves such as the Stechlin, the Kleine Schorfheide, and the Küstrinchen area, together preserving a network of vulnerable lakes, mires, and old woodlands across this quiet stretch of northeastern Germany.
