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Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park
Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft
IUCN category II (national park)
Coastal vegetation
Location	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Nearest city	Rostock and Stralsund
Coordinates	54°26′10″N 12°54′32″E / 54.436°N 12.909°E / 54.436; 12.909
Area	805 km (311 sq mi)
Established	1 October 1990

The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park (Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft) is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's largest national park, situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea. It consists of several peninsulas, islands and lagoon shore areas in the Baltic Sea, belonging to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen.

The national park includes:

• the Darß peninsula
• the western coast of the island of Rügen
• the island of Hiddensee
• the island of Ummanz
• several tiny islets between the above places
• the multiple lagoons in between the land masses

The national park is characterised by very shallow water housing a unique coastal fauna. All portions of the national park are famous for being a resting place for tens of thousands of cranes and geese.

Its area is 805 km (311 sq mi).

Composition

Approximately half the area of the park is open Baltic Sea; more than another quarter covers parts of the lagoons in the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain including the West Rügen Bodden. Thus it protects these shallow water areas (in the Baltic Sea, the National Park boundary is based on the ten-metre depth contour) with their rich flora and fauna. The differing salt content of the brackish water habitats of the Baltic and the bodden (shallow lagoons) contribute significantly to the local diversity of nature. For example, the Baltic Herring visits the shallow bays regularly to spawn here.

The territory of the national park includes parts of the Darß and the peninsula of Zingst as well as most of the island of Hiddensee. In addition, a narrow strip of land on the island of Rügen, next to the bodden lies within the national park. Pine and beech woods, such as the Darß Forest, cover much of the land. In treeless areas there are bogs, resulting from coastal flooding.

Sources

• "Nationalparkplan - Bestandsanalyse" (PDF). Landesamt für Forsten und Großschutzgebiete Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 2002. p. 209. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
• "Nationalparkplan - Leitbild und Ziele" (PDF). Landesamt für Forsten und Großschutzgebiete Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 2002. p. 76. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
• Frank Gnoth-Austen, Rudolf Specht: Jasmund, Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft. Vehling, Werl 1995, ISBN 3-536-00476-8 (Deutsche Nationalparke, Vol. 2).
• Norbert Rosing, Sarah Fuchs, Klaus Nigge: Deutsche Nationalparks. Tecklenborg, Steinfurt 1997, ISBN 3-924044-29-5.

References

1. Western Pomerania Lagoon Area at www.naturefund.de. Accessed on 27 June 2012. Archived 2 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website (in German)
• Literature about Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park in the German National Library catalogue
• Literature about Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park in the State Bibliography (Landesbibliographie) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

v t e National parks of Germany
North Germany	Hamburg Wadden Sea Jasmund Lower Oder Valley Lower Saxon Wadden Sea Müritz Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea Western Pomerania Lagoon Area
Central Germany	Eifel Hainich Harz Hunsrück-Hochwald Kellerwald-Edersee Saxon Switzerland
South Germany	Bavarian Forest Berchtesgaden Black Forest

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• IUCN Category II
• National parks of Germany
• Protected areas of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Protected areas established in 1990
• Fischland-Darß-Zingst
• Lagoons of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• 1990 establishments in East Germany
• Tourist attractions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Vorpommern-Rügen geography stubs
• European protected area stubs