The Hündfelder Moor is part of a former cross-border raised bog complex that includes the current protected areas of Aamsveen on the Dutch side and the Amtsvenn and Hündfelder Moor nature reserves on the German side. The Hündfelder Moor is part of the Natura 2000 site “Amtsvenn and Hündfelder Moor”; it is also designated under the EU Birds Directive as part of the European bird sanctuary “Moors and heaths of the western Münsterland”.
With the effect of the first nature conservation area ordinance from 1979, all utilisation and therefore also peat extraction was prohibited in the area; the drainage ditches created for this purpose were initially left as they were. The rewetting of the area only began after numerous smaller and larger rewetting measures had been carried out by the Zwillbrock Biological Station. At the same time, grazing of the former moorland areas began with the establishment of the Moorschnucken herd by the Moorhof sheep farm of the Biological Station with the aim of preventing further scrub encroachment and forestation of the areas.
From 1998 to 2003, waterlogging and de-cussing measures were carried out on large areas as part of a so-called LIFE project. Overall, many areas have since developed favourably: Large areas of heath with broom heather and bell heather are now present on the peaty raised bog peat; promising bogs can be found in the hollows, former ditches and peat pits.
The Hündfelder Moor is largely inaccessible to visitors in order to protect breeding and resting birds that are sensitive to disturbance. There is a car park for hikers on the B70 to the north, from where you can take a cross-border tour of the northern Hündfelder Moor and the Dutch Aamsveen.
The special value of the area lies in its moorland habitats, the large area of nutrient-poor habitats and the fact that the areas are largely undisturbed. It is therefore also an important breeding and resting habitat for numerous bird species.