water maintenance on the Biber

The Biber is a river that rises in Germany and flows into Switzerland near Hofen in the canton of Schaffhausen. The Northeastern Switzerland Nature Network carries out various maintenance work along the river for the Waterways Department of the Civil Engineering Office of the canton of Schaffhausen.

As is usual with bodies of water, when there is heavy rainfall in their catchment area they always carry a lot of water and, above all, a wide variety of material with them. This usually includes seeds from non-native and invasive species. This is why the beavers clear the banks of invasive neophytes, or keep them clear. Himalayan balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ), originally from Asia, is an invasive neophyte that causes major problems because it displaces the native riverbank vegetation and the local biodiversity is thereby rapidly reduced or even reduced.

Furthermore, revitalization measures were taken and carried out on various sections of the river in order to restore the natural character of the river, which was straightened over 100 years ago. In this context, many trees and bushes were planted. These are mown twice a year by our motivated volunteers so that they can develop ideally and one day form a riverbank habitat suitable for the location. In addition, the trees will shade the river in the future and keep the water temperature at a level suitable for fish.

The Biber is a very diverse river, which generally provides a habitat for many different plant and animal species. Beavers have been active here again for around 15 years. You can also see the kingfisher and the grass snake - and very rarely the smooth snake ( Coronella austriaca) .

Last but not least, we have collected hundreds of liters (!!!) of waste during our operations, which tragically ended up in the river system. The operations on the Biber are always a lot of fun, motivating and the beautiful habitats and observations show every day how important our work here is. In the long term, we can contribute so much to the preservation of this body of water and the ecologically valuable refuges!