Saarsteilhänge am Kaiserweg

With the ‘Saarsteilhänge am Kaiserweg’, a large cross-border nature reserve has been designated in the area of the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. The Rhineland-Palatinate part of the nature reserve covers an area of around 120 hectares and includes the former nature reserve ‘Urwald bei Taben’ (Tabener Urwald natural forest reserve). The area is a particularly scenic part of the lower Saar valley with ravine forests and hillside forests, boulder screes and near-natural stream valleys. In large parts of the area, timber utilisation has been suspended for around 100 to 200 years. This has allowed a high proportion of old wood structures and deadwood structures to develop, which are of high ecological value. These areas in particular provide a habitat for highly endangered insect species throughout the state and country. Another special feature are the scree slopes (‘Rosseln’) made of quartzite, which are inclined up to 45° and were formed by the weathering of the rocks. The extreme site conditions prevailing there meant that trees could only reach heights of less than 10 metres despite being over 100 years old. The Rosselhalden are also colonised by very rare lichen and moss communities.