Welcome to LIFE "Lippeaue"
The LIFE-Project, an EU-nature project aimed at redeveloping the Lippe river and its floodplain. Our logo - the Marsh Harrier – is symbolic of an intact floodplain with varied biotopes and a wide and varied population of animals and plant species.
Successful conclusion of the LIFE Project “Lippeaue”
The LIFE project „Lippeaue“ was officially closed at the end of July 2010. During the last five and a half years various measures were implemented with the aim of improving the quality of the Lippe and its floodplain (the Lippeaue) within the context of the LIFE project. The goal of the project was to protect and to improve the Lippeaue as a habitat for threatened species and as a retention area for floods. The return of rare species such as the bank swallow and the stork demonstrate clearly that these measures are already showing the first ecological successes.
The redevelopment of the Lippe and its banks over the last few years was not only meant to be beneficial to the wildlife. The citizens of Hamm have also recaptured the chance to view all that nature has to offer as a direct result of the redevelopment work in the Lippe floodplain. A new network of nature trails, a log paved path through the Lippe floodplain (the “Lippeauenpfad”) and an observation tower have been established.
The project partners; the City of Hamm, the Lippeverband (a federation), the district of Warendorf and the ABU Soest would like to thank the local citizens as well as the different interest groups for showing so much commitment and interest!
In many common assignments and discussion sessions, the LIFE project Lippeaue grew in its significance for the region and nowadays enjoys an exemplary acceptance due to the support of the most diverse participants.
Fortunately, the end of the LIFE project does not mean the end of the renaturation process in the Lippe floodplain. In the last year the European Union and the country North-Rhine/Westphalia contributed approximately 6 million Euros for the development of the Lippe floodplain. Together with the project partners, Lippeverband, the districts of Warendorf and Soest and the ABU Soest (a local NGO), the City of Hamm will conduct further re-development measures in the Lippe floodplain up until March 2015. We invite you to observe this transformation of the landscape and its inhabitants further and to bring in your personal activity into the new “LIFE+ project”.