St. Peter, St. Märgen Protected Landscape: High Black Forest Regional Geography and Terrain

The landscape protection area was formally designated on 16 June 2003 through an ordinance issued by the lower nature conservation authority at the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district office. Its establishment marked an administrative effort to codify protection for a landscape that had long been shaped by traditional Black Forest land use, giving legal standing to the preservation of its forest-grassland mosaic, scattered historic settlement pattern and recreational value within the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg.

The protected landscape surrounds the villages of St. Peter and St. Märgen in the High Black Forest and is split between the natural regions known as Hochschwarzwald and Südöstlicher Schwarzwald. Its western flank is shaped by narrow, deeply incised valleys with steep slopes, while the central villages sit on broad plateau surfaces and the northern parts rise above 1000 metres of elevation. This altitudinal range, combined with the contrast between dense forest and open mostly grassland, produces the varied scenery the protection ordinance explicitly aims to preserve. Small brooks, wet meadows, hedgerows, avenues of trees and isolated old trees enrich the visual texture of the terrain.

Ecologically, the area is defined by large continuous forest stands alternating with open meadow landscapes used predominantly as grassland, which together form a characteristic and ecologically productive mosaic. The mix of stream courses, wet meadows, hedgerows and woodland edge habitats supports a diversity of animal and plant species and helps preserve the natural balance that the ordinance identifies as central to the site. The protected landscape shares ground with the Kandelwald, Roßkopf und Zartener Becken Habitats Directive site and the Mittlerer Schwarzwald bird protection area, tying its ecological function into the wider Central Black Forest habitat network.

The protection ordinance highlights the area's importance for sustaining a diverse community of animal and plant species, supported by the combination of forest, grassland, wet meadows, hedgerows and stream habitats that shape the High Black Forest around St. Peter and St. Märgen. Participation in the Mittlerer Schwarzwald bird protection area and a neighboring FFH habitat site reflects its broader role for wildlife within the Central Black Forest network, though individual species character is described in general terms rather than through detailed species inventories.

Designated under IUCN Category V as a Protected Landscape, the area is valued for preserving the characteristic mosaic of forest and traditionally managed grassland that defines the High Black Forest, along with the cultural landscape formed by long-established scattered farm settlements. Its purpose is to safeguard a balanced natural environment, maintain landscape beauty and diversity, and secure recreation value. The protected landscape overlaps with the Kandelwald, Roßkopf und Zartener Becken FFH site and the Mittlerer Schwarzwald bird protection area, integrating it into broader European conservation frameworks, while excluding the stricter Zweribach and Häuslematt nature reserves that lie within its boundaries.

The protected area encompasses a long-established scattered settlement pattern of historic Black Forest farms (Schwarzwaldhöfe), whose traditional positioning, building styles and associated meadows and pastures shape much of the visual identity of the Black Forest. This dispersed human occupation, set among forest and grassland and largely free of large technical intrusions, is explicitly recognized in the protection ordinance as an essential element of the region's cultural landscape.

A representative stretch of the High Black Forest surrounding the villages of St. Peter and St. Märgen, where a near-natural mosaic of forest, meadows and scattered historic farmsteads is preserved under official landscape protection. Deeply incised valleys give way to high plateau terrain above 1000 metres, supporting a varied pattern of brooks, wet meadows, hedgerows, tree rows and solitary trees. The area functions as both a recognized recreational landscape and part of larger Natura 2000 and bird protection networks.

Late spring through early autumn is the most rewarding season, when the mix of forest and open grassland is at its most varied, high-elevation walking routes on the plateau are accessible, and traditional Black Forest farmsteads are most active in the working cultural landscape.