Restoration measures at the Strausbergmoos

In recent years, the city of Sonthofen has acquired seven plots of land with a total area of more than 11 hectares for the purpose of restoration in the Strausbergmoos. In 2011, the Landschaftspflegeverband Oberallgäu-Kempten e. V. had a maintenance and development plan drawn up by three renowned moorland experts (Ringler, Quinger and Siuda). Already in 2012 the bed of the Löwenbach was raised to protect the Strausbergmoor, because as a result of the stream straightening and stream deepening, large parts of the Stausbergmoor threatened to slide into the stream. The western flank of the moor has subsided by more than 1.00 m in the past two decades. In order to prevent the moor from sliding completely in the direction of the stream, a total of 800 tonnes of rock material was injected into the stream in late autumn/winter 2012 and the bed of the stream was raised to just below the upper edge of the terrain. In summer/autumn 2014, the first mowing of 3.1 ha of fallow litter meadows, the removal of bushes from litter meadows on 3.2 ha, the fortification of an access road and the creation of several new connecting corridors for rare butterflies took place. In 2015, further litter meadows were mowed, rootstocks were milled and spring areas were cleared of bushes and hydrologically rehabilitated. In 2016, small-scale ditch systems were closed and the water level of the moor was raised, the meadows were mowed again and a calcareous tuff spring was renaturalized. In 2017, the maintenance mowing of the litter meadows was continued and further scrub clearance was carried out. In order to finance the "Strausbergmoos" project, the government of Swabia has granted the Landschaftspflegeverband Oberallgäu-Kempten e. V. (Landscape Conservation Association of Oberallgäu-Kempten) subsidies of 90% under the Bavarian Climate Program (= KliP).