Indeaue

The renaturalized Inde, also known as the Inde floodplain, is one of the most important recultivation projects in the area surrounding the Inden open-cast mine. When the open-cast mine reached the original course of the Inde in 2005, the river was relocated over a section of around five kilometers and fundamentally redesigned. Instead of a straightened watercourse, a near-natural, freely meandering river course was created over a total of around twelve kilometers within a floodplain up to 300 meters wide.

Today, the Inde floodplain represents a high added value for recreation and soft tourism. The river can develop dynamically in the extensive landscape and forms gravel banks, islands, steep banks and pools. These constantly changing structures make the floodplain particularly attractive for nature observations, walks, hikes and cycle tours. As large parts of the Inde floodplain are subject to process protection, visitors can experience a self-developing river landscape with high ecological quality.

At the same time, the Inde floodplain combines the experience of nature with the visible transformation of a former mining region. It creates a special experience space in which recultivation, biodiversity and recreation come together - a forward-looking goal for nature-based tourism in the Rhenish mining area.