Tapolcafő Marsh-meadows Nature Conservation Area

 wetland, meadow, marsh, nature conservation park / area, fen (wetland)

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Territory of the protected area: 13 hectares.
Location: The protected area is situated to the south of Tapolcafő along the road to Ganna.
Visitors: Free of access for visitors.
Management: Directorate of the Balaton Uplands National Park

It is typical of the northwest districts of the strip stretching between Sümeg and Pápa in the Bakonyalja (Foot of the Bkony) that marshes, marsh-meadows can often be found, because of the little watercourses supplied by springs in the Bakony and the climate otherwise rainy, too. These marsh-meadows, boggy and sedgy associations are different from wet areas farther away – e.g. those of the Kisalföld – and consist of transitional vegetation due to the cooler microclimate. Monatane plants accustomed to cold conditions regularly live in the marshes often surrounded with forests.

The Tapolcafő marsh-meadows are situated along the Kalapács rill, which flows through the area towards the northwest. There are patches of alders, willows, larger and smaller reeds on the alluvial soil of the little valley formed by the little stream. The hawthorn lives in the wet marsh-meadow used as pasture, the field maple and the ash grow on areas a bit further up.
They tried to place the area under protection in the 1960s without success, as a result of that the rill is controlled in quite a long part. In consequence of that the level of the underground water got lower and precious species disappeared from the area ( the treading caused by regular grazing did not help the area either).
In spite of that such precious plants live in the strip of marsh-meadow along the rill as the Siberian iris, the military orchid and the loose-flowered orchid, the adder's-tongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum), a local kind of vetchling (Lathyrus pannonicus) – and the most valuable plant of the area the globeflower (Trollius europeus), which wandered from the east side of the Alps as far as there and has a captivatingly beautiful yellow flower.

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