Description
Especially protected are the spruce-dominated highland forests, mixed mountain forests of fir, beech and spruce trees and water meadow spruce woods in the valleys. Although a few remnants of ancient forest remain, the National Park area is still heavily influenced by the former forestry industry. Since nature is now left to take its course again, there is no human intervention when there are catastrophic events such as large scale bark beetle infestation. This resulted in the 1990s in the death of a portion of the high elevation forests and triggered controversial discussions amongst the residents of the National Park, which highlighted differing attitudes to the wilderness. As the result of a compromise, bark beetle is now fought in the expansion area.
The most important peaks in the National Park are the Großer Falkenstein (1,305 m), the Lusen (1,373 m) and the Großer Rachel (1,453 m ). In addition to the high forests, there are also ecologically valuable raised bogs (Hochmoore) with bog lakes such as the Latschensee and former high meadows, the so-called Schachten, which spread even further on the Czech side of the border in the Bohemian Forest.
With over 700,000 visitors per year, the National Park is an important economic factor in the economically underdeveloped region of the Bavarian Forest.
Read more about this topic: Bavarian Forest National Park
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