The Site is a shallow lake, up to one metre in depth, with fringing reedbeds adjoining a partly forested peatland. It also includes some adjacent grassland areas and swampy forests on organic soils. The lake provides habitat for several species of breeding and passage birds, various invertebrates, and otters. The Site supports more than 1% of the global population of the gadwall (Anas strepera), the bean goose (Anser fabalis) and the common crane (Grus grus) for breeding or staging. The hydrological system has been severely impacted by human activities related to the drainage and cultivation of the adjacent “Friedländer Große Wiese”, a former fen of 12,000 hectares, which is nowadays intensively used for grassland and cropland. In recent times, because of a restoration project realized from 2005 to 2007, the lake has started to recover and the submerged vegetation has expanded again (with 60% to 75% of the lake bed covered with macrophytes from 2008 to 2014). Eutrophication within the Site could threaten its ecological character.