The traditional cultural landscape with extensively used meadows (esp. on dry or wet subsoils), orchards and hedges houses a variety of species and provides beautiful natural sceneries. But land use often is not profitable any more on these less valuable plots. As a result species-rich meadows in the low mountain range and in the Alps are abandoned. Succession seizes the areas and species of open grasslands disappear. One aim of regional development is to stop this process by combining land use with nature protection.
Images: 1,2 Extensively used meadow in Southern Thuringia with the Pasque Flower, Burkhard Vogel, succession in the Green Belt, Karin Kowol