The reserve in a few words Let's forget the borders                               

The biosphere reserve of the Vosges du Nord in France and that of Pfälzerwald in Germany are next to each other. In fact, they meet at the border between France and Germany. They were given a specific label, becoming a single cross-border biosphere reserve in 1998. This is the first cross-border biosphere reserve in Europe.

In this large reserve, the natural heritage shared between France and Germany is the forest, sandstone, water and countryside.

The forest is extensive, covering 65% of the reserve. Water is an essential life resource, sandstone is the common rock base and the countryside is the setting for the lives of the inhabitants.

In the cross-border biosphere reserve, there are approximately 237,000 inhabitants, with 77,000 on the French side compared with 160,000 on the German side, over an area of over 3,100 km2.

In this cross-border biosphere reserve, particular attention is being paid to the protection of nature, farming, sustainable tourism and environmental education between the Germans and the French: cross-border cooperation is put into practice.