The areas around Gammellung and Tuerne in Faxe municipality are some of the larges areas in the municipality with rare nature. The areas are connected by a greater marsh area in connection with Holmegårds Marsh, which is the largest raised bog on Zealand. After the ice age the entire area was shallow lakes, but has gradually dried out and become the mosaic of marshes, forest swamps and Molinia meadows it is today. Numerous rare animals and plants belong in this unique area where you can find orchids and the very rare sedge: swamp sawgrass. If you are lucky you can see and hear cranes in the summer, and from time to time see the white-tailed eagle searching for feed over the open marsh and meadow landscapes.
Our nature is out of balance
Because of the humane influence upon nature over time, several of the animals that once helped to keep nature in balance are now extinct. Animals like bison, elk, wild boar and aurochs kept “holes” in the vegetation where the sunlight could reach all the way down to the surface of the ground and prompt life to the small herbs that now are disappearing from our nature. Without these big grazing animals areas, that once were open marshes and meadows, are slowly overgrowing with tall herbs and trees like willow, birch and alder. Our increased use of especially mineral fertilizer and our burning of fossil fuels are enhancing the problem caused by the missing animals, as the larger herbs and tree benefit from the greater amount of nutrients in the soil.
We will turn things around
To restore the former balance we need to remove some of the taller vegetation in the areas. We will replace the present grazing animals with cattle as they have the same effect on the vegetation as the wild herbivores of earlier times.
In time, we expect that the rare plants and animals will become plentiful and evolve into healthy and viable populations in the area. The hunter will see more individuals and more species to hunt in the area as their feeding basis improves. The bird watcher will see more species because they will increase in number and the visibility will improve. The dog walker, hiker and jogger will witness an even greater nature experience than previous.
Collaboration with landowners
Faxe municipality implements the project in close collaboration with the private landowners. The municipality manages all work on preservation, so the landowners will not have any expenses in relation to the project. They just lend their lands to the municipality that implements the necessary initiatives with the help of the EU’s LIFE-program. There will be no restriction on the landowners’ disposability of their lands, other than what naturally occurs in the period of summer where cattle are grazing the areas.