Management concepts for abandoned xerothermic slopes in the middle Rhine Valley: A case study in the sustainable development of cultural landscapes

The middle Rhine Valley (Germany) is a typical example of the widespread conflict between a high nature conservation value of the cultural landscape on the one hand and the loss of any interest in land use as the traditional ‘management tool’ on the other hand. Therefore, possibilities for the sustainable development of this ‘model region’ with its characteristic xerothermic slopes were studied within the scope of a feasibility study. The projected conservation strategies, which will be implemented within the next years, take into account traditional and alternative forms of land use as well as management practices without any economic interest. The latter include controlled burning of different successional stages on the steep slopes, clearance of scrub-dominated areas with tank-tracks and the extensive (‘semi-wild’) grazing of an area of about 65 ha with wild sheep and goats.