40 years - 40 natural reserves – Mensder Brill
The Hëllef fir d'Natur Foundation owns 6 hectares of land located in the alluvial plain of the Syre.
In the Syre alluvial plain between Uebersyren and Mensdorf is the largest reedbed in the country, spread over two similar but different sites, the Menster Brill and the Schlammwiss.
The Menster Brill wetland extends along the Syre River on an area of just over 40 ha, between the town of Mensdorf and the bridge of the Luxembourg-Trier freeway. The Fondation Hëllef fir d'Natur owns about 6 ha. It is part of the nature reserve "Schlammwiss-Brill", designated in 2018, together with the adjoining areas Schlammwiss, Raasselt and Laangwiss to the south, and forms the core of the European protected area LU0002006 Syre Valley from Moutfort to Roodt-Syre.In the past, the course of the Syre was moved to the edge of the alluvial plain in order to facilitate the exploitation by draining it with ditches. It was only in 2003 that the Syre was renatured over a length of a little more than 2 km. The watercourse was put back in its old bed in the alluvial plain of the valley. In this wide and shallow bed, the characteristic habitats of the alluvial plain have expanded again. The restoration of floodplains has also improved the retention function and thus the protection in case of flooding.
In order to maintain the open character of the floodplain and to prevent the natural succession to the floodplain forest, the Nature and Forestry Administration, in cooperation with the farmers, has introduced extensive grazing on more than 25 ha of the floodplain with the introduction of water buffaloes.
For the last 15 years, due to the diversity of habitats in this limited area, a monitoring program has been set up for both the flora (reeds, marsh sedges, meadowsweet) and the fauna (birds, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers).
Text: Fondation Hëllef fir d’Natur
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