EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

144 NOMINATION DOSSIER "ANCIENT BEECH FORESTS OF GERMANY"
region or taking a holiday in the Müritz
National Park and Mecklenburg Lake
District.
As a consequence of the low number of
permanent residents and visitors, the human
infl uence on the component part is found
to be but slight.
Grumsin component part
At present, the nominated area does not
contain any visitor facilities or hiking /
cycling trails. However, the component part
is linked to a number of regional hiking
trails. A stretch of the projected hiking
trail will run along the border of the component
part, thus creating the opportunity
to experience the diff erent aspects of
managed forests on the one hand and the
unmanaged forest on the other hand.
Th ere is a connection to the path net work
of the national geopark “Eiszeitland am
Oderrand” (“Glacial Land on the Oder
Banks”) the international acknowledgement
of which having been fi led with the
UNESCO in 2008, and the holiday and
adventure route “Märkische Eiszeitstraße”
(“Clacial Road of the Mark”) with its 340 km.
Furthermore, the component part is linked
to the long-distance cycling trails “Tour
Brandenburg” and “Berlin-Usedom” as well
as the supraregional “Uckermärki scher
Radrundweg” (“Uckermark Circular Cycling
Trail”).
Since any unauthorised access to the area
is forbidden, the only possibility to enter is
on the basis of guided walking tours off ered
by trained landscape guides.
Th e distance between the “Blumberger
Mühle” visitor centre of the biosphere
reserve and the component part is approx.
10 km. An information outlet related
to the nominated World Heritage will be
established here (box below).
Hainich component part
Visitors in the component part can draw on
19 km of hiking trails that can also be
used in part as cycling, bridle, and coach
paths (6 km). One of the paths has been
developed to be barrier-free and furnished
with a number of adventure stations.
Blumberger Mühle
From 1997 – 2007, the information centre
of the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere
Reserve, about 10 km from the Grumsin
component part, saw an average of
33,500 visitors per year (51,300 max
in 1997 and 21,300 min in 2004). While
visitor numbers in the component part
are signifi cantly lower, visitors to this
area are not counted. Th e visitors (200 –
400 yearly at a rough estimate) would
enter Grumsin in small groups under
expert guidance. It is mostly specialists
and scientists taking a look at the
Grumsin beech forest or conducting
studies on natural forests.