CULTIVATED FIELDS

Farming began in this part of the Lobau in 1917 during a time of severe food shortage at the end of the first World War. Since the creation of the National Park in 1977, 2/3 of the fields have been allowed to remain fallow and 'return to nature' and are in various stages of reverting. Some are still kept free of scrub to encourage the growth of meadow flowers and perennial herbs, some are returning to their woodland state.

The remaining cultivated fields are farmed organically, without the use of herbicides or pesticides, so permitting the survival of annual 'weeds', flowering plants that have become rare in most parts of the country along with the insects and birds that depend on them.