Griesbroek (BE)
LOCATION + COORDINATES
Olmen, Balen (BE)
Heathland & deciduous forest restoration at 51.150333, 5.134222 decimal coordinates
Deciduous forest restoration 51.151639, 5.141083 decimal coordinates
Fen and heathland restoration at 51.151278, 5.137861 decimal coordinates
CATEGORY
Demonstration sites for infiltration restoration through forest conversion
Demonstration sites for temporal natural water retention
DESCRIPTION SITE
Under conditions where rainwater and local groundwater meet in a depression we can expect fens. In the Griesbroek, three former recreational ponds were located on a potential site for such fens. They were dug in the second half of the 20th century. During construction, the excavated soil was placed in dykes around the ponds. The dug depth capturing groundwater from the surrounding soils and the dykes providing a barrier to natural flooding created a highly disturbed hydrology. Moreover, in one of the ponds, bank revetments in asbestos sheet were installed to prevent bank erosion and leakage. Caravans and coteries were placed on the embankments and a variety of park and garden plants were planted. Such recreational ponds were also created deeper in the valley and scattered throughout the basin.
Natuurpunt transformed the weekend ponds and a willow thicket to valuable natural fens in the landscape. Furthermore, the now restored heaths and deciduous forests will allow more water to reach the ground and infiltrate towards the restored fen and other lower-lying land.
Besides the optimized hydrology, valuable habitats were also created. As sunlight could hardly penetrate the artificial ponds, the biological quality was very poor. After restoration of the fen and removal of invasive species the fens became an open and sunlit habitat, ideal for typical plant species, amphibians and dragonflies.
MEASURES
Conversion of pine forest to deciduous forest (2 sub-sites)
Conversion of recreational pond to fen
Conversion of pine plantation to heathland (2 sub-sites)
MORE INFO
TIMING
2019 - 2022
BUDGET
€ 609 676 in TOTAL for Heiberg, Visbeek, Den Rooy and Griesbroek investment sites
PARTNERS
Natuurpunt
CONTACT
Pictures by:
Manu Büscher