After the massive damage to a strictly protected stream north of Forchheim, the water police in Bamberg are looking for the perpetrators. The lower nature conservation authority is examining measures that favor the formation of the destroyed sinter terraces, said a spokeswoman for the Forchheim district office on Tuesday. The perpetrators had destroyed the tufa springs with excavators. It will probably take decades for the Eggerbach near Eggolsheim to regenerate. The judiciary is investigating suspected endangerment of areas in need of protection, said the district office spokeswoman.
The Eggerbach near Eggolsheim (Forchheim district) is located in a so-called flora-fauna habitat protection area and is an important habitat for animals and plants in need of protection, as the Bund Naturschutz (BN) and the Landesbund für Vogelschutz (LBV) had announced. For example, the fire salamander, which is threatened with extinction, lays its larvae in the area of the sinter pools and terraces, according to the conservationists. The body of water was destroyed over a length of about 25 meters by the unauthorized dredging work. BN and LBV reported the unknown perpetrators.