Nature experience Mürmes on the GesundLand route

This week at the press conference for the 19th Maare-Mosel-Run in the HealthyLand Vulkaneifel, there was already real joy. I'm doing the GesundLand run again, but not only because the special GesundLand route is also aimed at inexperienced runners. No, because this route is an incredible nature experience for me on 7 kilometers. Caspar, my dog, is allowed to come along on this route and he is also looking forward to an eventful day in the GesundLand Vulkaneifel.

Do you know the nature reserve Mürmes? Since 1975 it has been designated as a nature reserve with its 43 hectares. Before that it had an eventful history, which you can still experience everywhere. About 10,000 years before Christ, volcanic activity in the area created kettles of corn. In the course of world history, these developed into fens with - get this - peat layers up to 4 meters thick.
These areas were used as fish ponds from 1400 onwards. After the ponds were no longer farmed and the dams were destroyed, the bogs dried up. From then on, the peat layers were used as fuel by the inhabitants for a long time.
After the designation as a nature reserve, the Mürmes was effectively re-wetted. This sounds strange at first, but if you know a little about living environments, you will quickly realize that a fantastic habitat has been created here. The variety of rare plants is fascinating. Have you, for example, on a hike, ever discovered round-leaved sundew, hair-striped water fennel or spotted orchid? It could happen on this trail.

Where many different plants grow and there is water, very special insects also live, such as the most diverse dragonfly species. Personally, I always find them fascinating when they hover over the water with their transparent wings and glowing bodies. Birdlife is also uniquely at home on this beautiful GesundLand trail. If you are attentive, you can hear the meadow pipit or even a reed bunting. More often you can see whinchat and the cheerful lapwing.
All this, together with the beautiful paths through forests and meadows, makes the GesundLand route a unique experience. Come along to the 19th Maare-Mosel Run on August 27, 2016.

Yours, Heike Boomgaarden