An impenetrable swamp and alder forest by 1750, the Droemling evolved into large-scale wetland and fenland in the course of systematic cultivation being similar to landscaped gardens today. To a large extent, the original swamp forest gave way to a tightly interlinked mosaic of meadows, hedges and forests as well as swamp and water areas. The locals call this area the “land of a thousand ditches” and it is characteristic for the numerous streams totalling almost 2,000 km in length. The most striking representative of the characteristic flora and fauna is white stork with more than 40 breeding pairs in the area.