The Kraillinger pioneer training area is a treasure.
Researchers study the voices of birds, conservationists and the community take care of rare species.
Now one more tooth is being added.
Krailling
- There are wonderful floodplains completely hidden in the Kreuzlinger Forst. The very rare forest meadow bird, a species of butterfly, feels at home there. The same goes for the cross gentian and a large number of particularly rare plants and animals that are threatened with extinction. The only thing missing is the river. Because on the former pioneer training area in Krailling there is only its floodplain. “You pretend it's a floodplain,” explains Horst Guckelsberger from the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV). It's not that far-fetched. In the Ice Age, the area was finally a floodplain.
It is thanks to the Bundeswehr that there are floodplains in the Kreuzlinger Forst again today.
It returned the area to its original state through intensive use.
She compacted the soil with tanks and because she removed the topsoil for fire protection reasons, gravel came to the fore.
Numerous animals and plants enjoyed these rare living conditions.
Aisles set up
The Bundeswehr has been gone for around three decades. The municipality of Krailling, the federal government, foresters and the state association for bird protection have been taking care of the area since then. "We try to maintain the quality - but without tanks," explains Guckelsberger. They mow, remove bushes, clear out, create flight lanes for butterflies and, if necessary, bring water to the ponds. Now the core areas have been classified as important nationwide. What began as an abandoned Bundeswehr location is now a diverse network of biotopes. The years of work have paid off - and now it's really getting started.
In its most recent meeting, the Kraillinger municipal council decided to intensify the efforts made so far.
"A lot has already been done, but more is possible," says environmental officer Verena Texier-Ast.
The site and the neighboring tank farm will now be part of a BayernNetzNatur project and thus part of Bavaria's state-wide biotope network.
An external project management team should be entrusted with an inventory and provide suggestions for improvement.
"It's about sustainability and the creation of biodiversity," explains Verena Texier-Ast.
The environmental officer does not say what the community has invested in maintaining the site so far.
"We're not talking about costs."
Krailling invests
Numbers are now on the table for the BayernNetzNatur project.
The municipality wants to invest at least 3335 euros annually over the next five years (2022 to 2026) - for the basic measures, according to Verena Texier-Ast.
In addition, the district of Starnberg has committed itself to providing 29,568 euros a year.
The amounts will benefit the development of areas owned by the municipality, the federal government and G1 Krailling Real Estate GmbH, i.e. the tank farm.
Close cooperation
How much has been achieved so far in terms of rare plants and animals was only assessed last Tuesday by Ast. Twice a year, the leading stakeholders inspect them to see how flora and fauna develop. Now the autumn ascent was due. “It's a close and trusting collaboration,” says Texier-Ast happily. Guckelsberger goes into raptures when he talks about the area. “Where are there still gravel areas outside of gravel pits today,” he says. Animals that are otherwise at home in floodplains valued them very much. The smooth snake, for example, is dependent on gravelly bare surfaces, the blue-winged wasteland insect lives on extremely dry, calcareous soils. "The cross gentian has developed particularly well," says Guckelsberger.“It has exploded in the past few years. We are very proud of it - and astonished. ”After all, the areas on which this plant feels comfortable do not look particularly attractive.
And that is also a problem elsewhere: “On gravel surfaces, everyone means that they can muddle around as they like”.
Guckelsberger is not good at that, but before he scolds a lot, he prefers to go on raving.
With the cross gentian, a butterfly has appeared that is otherwise on the red list: the cross gentian blue ant.
This is dependent on a very rare type of ants, as its caterpillars overwinter in its burrow.
“It's an exciting symbiosis.” So there is a lot going on on the site.
The dialect of birds
Recently, researchers from the Technical University of Munich have also been traveling there. They study the dialect of birds. You could say, "a Bavarian blackbird sounds different from a Saxon blackbird," explains Verena Texier-Ast. That is why the researchers have been recording bird calls for a year. You have set up around ten nest boxes and thus extend the list of those who take care of the flora and fauna on the site. Many helpers are needed so that the treasure that they all care for with united forces becomes increasingly valuable. Texier-Ast doesn't forget to mention them: "There are very, very many volunteers who take care of them."
Horst Guckelsberger is one of them.
He replies the praise: “What the community is doing is excellent.” For the future, however, Guckelsberger would like a visitor management concept for walkers, cyclists and riders.
Such a diverse network of biotopes does not exist again in the region.
And: “The visitor pressure is a problem when people are walking all over the site.” As part of the BayernNetzNatur project, his wish could come true in the not too distant future.
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Autumn inspection of the former pioneer site: (from left) Stefan Schilling, Alexander Kampmeier, Norbert Kandler, Günther Paschek, Christoph Jäger, Horst Guckelsberger, Franz Wimmer, Verena Texier-Ast and Michael Maiblüh examined how flora and fauna have developed.
© Michael Schönwälder
List of rubric lists: © Michael Schönwälder
