Instafamous wood hyacinths wrap Flanders Hallerbos in a purple blanket
The upcoming weekend, thousands of visitors are expected to enjoy the purple flower carpet located in Flanders Hallerbos, Halle. The annual hyacinth festival is only held once a year for one week from mid-April till early May.
The 1371 acres wide Hallerbos is the only place in Flanders with such a large surface area of wild hyacinths a.k.a Spanish bluebells. Unfortunately, the flower carpet is getting smaller and smaller each year. That’s due to major shifts in the climate, says The Forest & Nature Lab of Ghent University. According to their latest findings, the hyacinths have significantly slowed down their rate of distribution.
The purple wild flower now moves up to 17.500 times slower than the current climate change. “We cannot expect all species to be able to keep up with current climate change at such a slow rate of distribution,” explains Pieter Sanczuk, PhD student at the Forest & Nature Lab, Ghent University. "At the moment the rate of climate change in forests is 350 meters per year while that of wood hyactinths is 2 cm per year."
In order to protect the habitat and population of the many animals in and around the Hallerbos, the Flemish government plans to construct an 'ecoduct' for the use of animal species, walkers and cyclists over the Brussels ring (R0) road in the summer of 2023.
(AS)
llustration picture shows the Hallerbos - Ⓒ BELGA PHOTO/AFP EMMANUEL DUNAND