GMOs

The peat therapy resort Moorbad Gmös in the vicinity of the town of Laakirchen (situated on the edge of the Salzkammergut) is one of the few bogs in the Alpine foothills of Upper Austria. The bog dates back to the Mindel glaciation and was created by a "dead-ice hole". In 1987 the local authorities of Upper Austria declared the area of 3.4 ha of the Gmöser Moor a natural preserve. A path around the area has since then given the visitor the opportunity of observing rare flora and fauna. In 2002 the spa was chosen as background scenery for the TV-production Schlosshotel Orth.

The habitat was formed on a moraine of the Mindel glaciation and forms one of the few bogs in the Alpine foothills on the east side of the Traun River. Up to the time that humans began to interfere with nature, a bog landscape with its variety of flora and fauna was able to develop. Due to cultivation of the bog landscape by man (drainage, peat-working, litter-harvesting etc.) the 3.4 ha Gmöser Moor can today be designated as a carr or fen which the original forms of flora and fauna have survived.

This was the reason that the Gmöser Moor was declared to be a natural preserve in 1987.

Due to the number of animals – of which some are severely endangered and all under protection – the Gmöser Moor represents a unique refuge and environment in form of a biotope for the region. For example, there are amphibians such as yellow-bellied toads (Bombina variageta) – decidedly water inhabitants – and reptiles such as the grass snake (Natrix natrix) which live in damp forests, fens and bogs.

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Wikipedia