Among the more unusual priority habitat types listed in Directive 92/43/EEC* are petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion). These habitats consist of springs where water comes out of the ground with high calcium carbonate content.

When specific mosses and algae (with the genus Cratoneurion as leading type) extract carbon dioxide from this water, the calcium forms mineral deposits (tufa) on the plants, coating them to create bizarre shapes.
The German LIFE-Nature project for the protection of springs with tufa formation in the Franconian Alb (Bavaria), has reached a critical 'conversion phase'. With regular updates in its newsletter, the project beneficiary "Landesbund für Vogelschutz in Bayern e.V." would like to inform interested parties of its progress; while at the same time would like to initiate a technical exchange of information with other partners.

The project is entitled: "Measures of optimisation of petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion) and their surroundings in the Franconian Alb" (LIFE03 NAT/D/000002). Launched in July 2003 (with closure scheduled for December 2007) its main aim is the restoration of these springs by carrying out technical actions to reverse past interventions which have included encasing them in constructions to make them more "attractive" or (at the other extreme) trying to drain them or using them as rubbish tips.

To combat the insufficient buffering of the spring habitats, appropriate farming and forestry practices are being promoted. The target is to repair at least 54 springs. As one of the first-ever projects dedicated to this specific habitat type, the project also hopes to fill a knowledge gap concerning the restoration and enhancement methods for Cratoneurion springs, to develop transferable techniques and to give scientific references for specific actions.

Anyone interested, can download the newsletter (in German) at www.lbv.de

For further information, contact: Zoran Jokic (z-jokic@lbv.de).

*) COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora

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