Conservation measures
To optimize the habitats of the two butterfly species and their associated ecological communities or to (re)create them in the first place, a variety of conservation measures are planned: Coniferous forests in creek meadows will be carefully removed and converted into open alluvial forests or into extensively used species-rich grasslands. Already existing near-natural alluvial forest areas will be thinned out and enriched with larval food plants. To improve connectivity between patches of habitat and to turn them into suitable habitat themselves, the banks of watercourses will be developed and wherever possible purchased for conservation. On a larger scale, the hydrology of the landscape will be restored by dismantling drainage structures, closing off drainage ditches and allowing natural watercourse dynamics. Using promising methods, the occurrence of rare nectar and larval food plants will be increased within the respective habitats.
Using the few remaining suitable source populations an elaborate captive breeding program for the Golden Fritillary is planned. The offspring are then introduced into previously optimized and interconnected habitats with the aim to establish the species permanently in those areas.
Last but not least, in cooperation with land managers the land use of the established and optimized habitats should be adapted to the needs and requirements of the two target species of the project in the long term.
To encourage landowners to agree with such conservation measures, the land will either be purchased or the landowners and users will be financially compensated for any restrictions of its usage.
One of the first conservation measures implemented through the project LIFE Helle Eifeltäler took place at Manscheider Bach on land owned by NABU Euskirchen. Here, in a dense spruce stand, two islands of light were created through tree-removal. Just a few weeks after the clearing soil moisture began to increase and the herbaceous layer grew. In the long term, an open alluvial forest should develop, which, ideally, will also be accepted as habitat by the Violet Copper.
The video was provided to us by NABU Euskirchen for the project launch on May 24, 2022.
NABU Euskirchen has written an illustrated report on the renaturation of the meadow at Kockesbach. Towards the end of it there is another video showing “Nadelfegen” on that block of land.