Lake Velence Bird Sanctuary

The Velencei-tavi Bird Sanctuary Nature Protection Area is the northern part of the internationally significant water bodies listed under the names Dinnyés and Velence (so‑called Ramsar site) and forms the water habitat between the city district Gárdony Dinnyés and the large village Pákozd.

Characteristics

Lake Velence, with an area of 26 km², is the third largest lake in our country, with an average water depth of 1.5 metres. In the 19th century, in the time of Otto Herman, as we know from his works, waterbirds lived almost undisturbed over the whole lake area. By now tourism and weekend houses have pushed the waterbirds’ nesting area back to the western corner of the lake, to just over 4.2 km². This western part was declared a protected natural area in 1958 on the proposal of the Hungarian Ornithological Institute, and in 1989 it was included among the areas protected by the Ramsar Convention. The Velencei-tavi Bird Sanctuary is separated from the Dinnyés-fertő Nature Protection Area by the main road 7, road 6213, and the Budapest–Murakeresztúr railway line. Together the two nature protection areas constitute the Velence and Dinnyés Ramsar site.

The most important nesting birds of the old reed beds are the great bittern, the black‑crowned night‑heron, the marsh harrier, the little bittern and the common crane.

In terms of flora, the most significant from a conservation standpoint is the original peatland vegetation, the maintenance and protection of floating peat. The most protected plants of this peat vegetation are the bulbous rush and the marsh marigold.