In order to protect the banks and shores of water bodies, legislation establishes zones to regulate human activity: 

  • limited management zone of the shore or bank
  • building exclusion zone
  • water protection zone

The objective of these zones is to ensure the preservation of natural biotic communities present on the shores and banks, to curb the harmful impact of human activity, to promote human settlement systems which consider the specific character of the shores and banks, and to ensure unrestricted movement within and unrestricted access to the banks and shores.

The extent of the zones restricting the use of banks and shores, including variations in the source zone and extent and the restrictions in force therein, is determined by Chapter 6 of the Nature Conservation Act and § 118–119 of the Water Act. The scope of the generalised restrictions can be viewed in the restrictions application of the Land Board's geoportal (NB: the map application does not reflect all the differences in the scope of the restrictions).

See more:

  • The updated subsection 1 of § 35 of the Nature Conservation Act 'the relevant line of 1 m of the height value of the shoreline can be downloaded from the Geoportal of the Land Board.
  • The distribution of alluvial fen soils that are important for subsection 3 of § 35 of the Nature Conservation Act can be viewed in the soil map application of the Land Board.
  • Information on the occurrence of floods can be found in the map application of flood-prone areas of the Land Board and the map prepared by the Environment Agency.
  • Audit of the State Audit Office ‘Construction activities in shore or bank areas’.

In certain protected areas, the rules of conservation make a distinction regarding building exclusion zones. For example, if a building is constructed for the purpose of a protected area within a building exclusion zone, the exclusion zone’s building prohibition does not apply to the building. Constructing infrastructure, such as a livestock shed for grazing or visitor amenities to introduce the protected area, may be necessary.