From 2016 to 2019, the Rural District Office of Roth carried out a project to promote orchards in the municipalities of Spalt, Heideck and Thalmässing. During a structural mapping by the Landscape Management Association of Central Franconia, the current condition of all existing orchard meadows was determined. From this, the most valuable areas were selected for which a care and design concept was to be developed. This concept served to promote red-listed animal and plant species and species of significance to the district.
In 2017/2018, ANUVA created a maintenance and design concept for nine selected orchard stands. As a basis, the bird fauna, wood-dwelling beetles, bats and vegetation were investigated. Furthermore, important faunistic habitat elements such as deadwood or cavity and biotope trees were recorded.
Many of the investigated orchards were species-rich, meager and partly characterized as perennial meadows. The hollow and mulch trees, with their high proportion of deadwood, were essential for many animal species. Accordingly, many endangered species lived there. In particular, the importance for bird fauna, deadwood-dwelling beetles and bats was high. Overall, a high diversity of species was found in the orchard stands. The aim of the maintenance and design measures concept was to ensure the preservation of these valuable and now endangered orchard sites. The measures primarily aimed at increasing ecological niches in order to develop a mosaic of optimal habitats for the occurring plant and animal species.