Exploring Flanders’ national parks: Bosland & Brabantse Wouden
It might sometimes seem like Flanders is becoming one large urban sprawl, but the region does have many spectacular nature areas, and even four recognised national parks. Today, Belga English presents the forest-rich Bosland in Limburg and the Brabantse Wouden in Flemish Brabant.
Two years ago, the Flemish government designated four national parks: “areas of sufficient size with exceptional natural value and international appeal”. The parks receive subsidies to develop their biodiversity and should eventually comprise a 10,000-hectare natural core that’s robust enough to sustainably protect the exceptional nature they contain.
As “bos” means “forest” in Dutch, it’s evident that a large part of the Bosland National Park in northern Limburg consists of forest. Many of them are full of conifers and were planted at the beginning of the 20th century for mining purposes. A good example is the large Pijnven forest, considered Bosland’s green heart. It has gradually been transformed into a more mixed forest to improve its biodiversity value.
But Bosland is more than just trees. It also contains a variety of heathlands, rivers, canals and grasslands and is one of the few Belgian nature reserves where you can still find sand plains and open dunes.
The high inland dunes in the national park are witnesses to the fact that the sea found its way to Limburg thousands of years ago. One of the park’s highlights is the Sahara sand plain in Lommel.
Video filmed in July 2020 shows the four wolf cubs nicknamed the Bosland Daltons, the first litter of wolves for Noella and August, in Limburg. The images were made with an unmanned wildlife camera © BELGA VIDEO HANDOUT ANB
This national park is home to the only wolf pack in Flanders. After an absence of around 150 years, there are currently more than 10 wolves living in the area. Because of their arrival, some refer to Bosland as a Flemish wilderness. The chances of actually encountering one are slim, however, as they are shy of humans.
Apart from wolves, Bosland is also home to the other members of the “Flemish “Big Five”: eagle owl, wild boar, deer and fox. In addition, the national park boasts the “Magnificent Seven”: common parsley frog, ladybird spider, wood lark, smooth snake, dark green fritillary, nightjar and river kingfisher.
The Brabantse Wouden or Forests of Brabant consist mainly of three centuries-old forests, with more than 20,000 monumental beech and oak trees: the Meerdaal Forest, Halle Forest and Sonian Forest. The three landscapes are connected by the Dijle, Laan and IJse rivers – excellent habitats for species such as beavers, river kingfishers and sand martins.
The Halle Forest becomes a major touristic attraction each spring, around mid-April, when it is transformed into a fairytale landscape with a purple carpet of wild bluebells. You can also spot mammals such as deer, squirrels and mustelids in the forest, which is home to one of the largest populations of fire salamanders in Flanders. The black woodpecker make holes in trees that serve as shelters for rare bats.
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The heart of the Forests of Brabant is the vast Sonian Forest, considered the green lung of Brussels and just 10km from the city’s Grand Place.
Once the hunting ground of princes and dukes, this is now the largest beech forest in the country, with some beech trees that are over 200 years old. Deer, foxes and wild boars roam here, in the company of wild rabbits and squirrels. Bird lovers can enjoy looking for crows, magpies and jays and listen to the melodies of songbirds.
Just a few kilometres from Leuven lies the Meerdaal Forest, at the transition between sandy loam and loamy soils. The difference in height has created a diverse forest with a wide variety of trees and shrubs.
Some beech and oak trees are more than 300 years old and have a trunk circumference of more than 5m. The forest is a paradise for birdwatchers, who can spot three different species of woodpecker – the lesser spotted, middle spotted and great spotted woodpecker.
#FlandersNewsService The Sonian Forest © PHOTO VILDAPHOTO
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