Western European broadleaf forests
# Western European broadleaf forests

The Western European broadleaf forests is an ecoregion in Western Europe, and parts of the Alps. It comprises temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, that cover large areas of France, Germany and the Czech Republic and more moderately sized parts of Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and South Limburg (Netherlands). Luxembourg is also part of this ecoregion.

## Geography

The Western European broadleaf forests ecoregion covers an area of 492,357 $km^2$ (190,100 sq mi), including the Massif Central, Central German Uplands, Jura Mountains, Bavarian Plateau, and Bohemian Massif.

This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and holds several large cities such as Lyon, Nancy and Munich. Most of the countryside has been cleared for agricultural land, cultivated with cereals (corn, wheat, oats), and to a smaller extent grapes. The ecoregion hosts a good variety of animal species, birds in particular, but most large mammals are in decline.

## Forests

The forest habitats of the ecoregion comprise mainly lowland and alti-montane mixed beech forests. There is also some natural beech woods, and the region also includes small parts of sub-Mediterranean forest habitats.

* Broadleaf forests (Teutoburger Forest, Germany)
* Conifer in the montane parts
* Inside the conifer forests (Black Forest, Germany)
* European beech is abundant in many submontane parts
* Mountain streams, rocky ground, and deciduous trees in a mix with conifer
* Autumn
* Many valleys have been cleared for villages and agriculture

## Fauna

* Wolf
* Lynx
* Wild boar
* Stag
* Fire salamander
* Anthill

## Status and conservation

Most of the original forest of the ecoregion has been cleared in the last 200 years, but a few larger patches remain, typically in non-arable montane areas that are part of national parks or protections. The woodlands of the ecoregion is generally second-growth and heavily fragmented.

National parks and larger nature protections in the ecoregion includes:

| Country | Name | Year | Area $(km^2)$ | IUCN category | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Germany and Belgium | High Fens – Eifel Nature Park | 1960 | 2,485 | 107 $km^2$ is category II | Cross-border protection. Includes a Ramsar Wetland area since 2003. Includes the Eifel National Park established in 2004. |
| Germany and Luxembourg | German-Luxembourg Nature Park | 1964 | 789 | | Cross-border protection. |
| Germany | Bergstraße-Odenwald Nature Park | 1960 | 3,500 | | |
| Germany | Spessart Nature Park | 1961 | 2,440 | | |
| Germany | Sauerland-Rothaargebirge Nature Park | 2015 | 3,827 | | |
| Germany | Arnsberg Forest Nature Park | 1960 | 482 | | |
| Germany | Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park | 1965 | 2,700 | | |
| Germany | Thuringian Forest Nature Park | 1979 | 2,200 | 337 $km^2$ is category II | Includes a UNESCO biosphere reserve |
| Germany | Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park | | 1,270 | | |
| Germany | Central/North Black Forest Nature Park | | 3,750 | 101 $km^2$ is category II | Includes the Black Forest National Park established in 2014. |
| Germany | Southern Black Forest Nature Park | 1999 | 3,940 | | |
| Germany and France | Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve | 1992 | 3,018 | | Cross-border protection. UNESCO biosphere reserve. A fusion of Palatinate Forest Nature Park (Germany) and Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park (France). |
| Germany | Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park | 1995 | 2,346 | | |
| Germany | Bavarian Forest National Park | 1970 | 243 | Category II | The park connects with the Šumava National Park in Czech Republic |
| Germany | Altmühl Valley Nature Park | 1969 | 2,962 | | |
| Germany | Augsburg Western Woods Nature Park | 1988 | 1,175 | | |
| Belgium | Two Ourthes Nature Park | 2001 | 760 | | |
| Belgium | Upper Sure Anlier Forest Nature Park | 2001 | 720 | | |
| Belgium | Gaume Natural Park | 2014 | 581 | | |
| Belgium | Viroin-Hermeton Nature Park | | 120 | | |
| Belgium | Attert Valley Nature Park | 1994 | 71 | | |
| Czech Republic and Germany | Elbe Sandstone Mountains | 1956 | 783 | 173 $km^2$ is category II | A collection of several protections, including Bohemian Switzerland National Park and Saxon Switzerland National Park. |
| Czech Republic and Germany | Lusatian Mountains | 1976 | 397 | | The Czech parts of these mountains forms the Lusatian Mountains Protected Landscape Area and the smaller German part forms the Zittau Mountain Nature Park. |
| Czech Republic | Bohemian Paradise | 1955 | 181 | | |
| Czech Republic | Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area | 1968 | 368 | | |
| Czech Republic | Krkonoše National Park | 1963 | 550 | Category II | UNESCO biosphere reserve. Connects with Karkonosze National Park in Poland |
| Czech Republic | Broumovsko Protected Landscape Area | 1991 | 430 | Category V | |
| Czech Republic | Orlické Mountains Protected Landscape Area | 1969 | 204 | Category V | |
| Czech Republic | Jeseníky Protected Landscape Area | 1969 | 740 | Category V | |
| Czech Republic | Žďár Highlands Protected Landscape Area | 1970 | 709 | Category V | |
| Czech Republic | Třeboňsko Protected Landscape Area | 1979 | 700 | | UNESCO biosphere reserve. Includes two Ramsar Wetland areas. |
| Czech Republic | Blanský Forest Protected Landscape Area | 1990 | 212 | | |
| Czech Republic | Šumava National Park | 1991 | 681 | Category II | The park connects with the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany. UNESCO biosphere reserve. |
| Czech Republic | Bohemian Forest Protected Landscape Area | 2005 | 473 | | |
| Czech Republic | Slavkov Forest | 1974 | 606 | | |
| Poland | Karkonosze National Park | 1959 | 56 | Category II | Connects with Krkonoše National Park in Czech Republic |
| Poland | Bóbr Valley Landscape Park | 1989 | 109 | Category V | |
| Poland | Rudawy Landscape Park | 1989 | 157 | Category V | |
| Poland | Chełmy Landscape Park | 1992 | 160 | Category V | |
| Poland | Sudety Wałbrzyskie Landscape Park | 1998 | 65 | Category V | |
| Poland | Owl Mountains Landscape Park | 1991 | 81 | Category V | |
| Poland | Stołowe Mountains National Park | 1993 | 63 | Category II | |
| Switzerland | Parc Jura vaudois | | | | |
| Switzerland | Doubs Nature Park | | | | |
| Switzerland | Chasseral Regional Park | | | | |
| Switzerland | Thal Nature Park | | | | |
| Switzerland | Aargau Jura Park | 2012 | 241 | | |
| Switzerland | Schaffhausen Regional Nature Park | | | | |
| France | The Ardennes Regional Nature Park | 2001 | 1,172 | | |
| France | Lorraine Regional Natural Park | 1974 | 2,050 | | |
| France | Ballons des Vosges Nature Park | 1989 | 2,700 | | |
| France | The IllWald, regional nature reserve | 2013 | 19 | | |
| France | Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park | 1986 | 1,641 | | |
| France | The Bauges Massif Regional Nature Park | 1995 | 856 | | |
| France | Chartreuse Regional Nature Park | 1995 | 767 | | |
| France | Grands Causses Natural Regional Park | 1995 | 3,285 | | |
| France | Aubrac Natural Regional Park | 1967 | 2,207 | | |
| France | Auvergne Volcanos Regional Park | 1977 | 3,950 | | |
| France | Morvan Regional Natural Park | 1970 | 2,850 | | |
| France | Millevaches Regional Nature Park in Limousin | 2004 | 3,140 | | |
| France | Forêt d'Orient Regional Nature Park | 1970 | 820 | | |
| France | Forêts National Park | 2019 | 2,500 | | |

Luxembourg maintains the Upper Sûre Natural Park, but this park covers mostly the Upper Sûre Lake, an artificial dam created in 1959, and no land area of significance. The lake is an important bird area. Luxembourg also holds part of the cross-border German-Luxembourg Nature Park in addition to several smaller nature reservations. Here eco-typical patches of forest are growing.

Austria does not have any protections in this ecoregion.

