HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dwingelderveld National Park is a national park of the Netherlands in the
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...
, founded in 1991. The park covers about and is mainly managed by the State Forest Service (
Staatsbosbeheer Staatsbosbeheer, founded in 1899, is a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves. Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250,000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public ...
) and the most important Dutch private nature management organisation
Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland (), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Pieter Thijsse and Eli Heimans, that buys, protects, and manages nature ...
. It is the largest wet heathland of Western-Europe. Dwingelderveld is also designated as a
Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
-area.


Archeology and history

Dwingelderveld was used by early inhabitants for religious purposes and agriculture. Celtic fields and burial mounds are still clearly recognizable in the field. Later the area was used as a transport route from Germany to the Netherlands, some of the old trails can still be found in the National Park. Nevertheless, the area has never been used intensively by humans. In the 1930s, there were reclamation plans, but nature conservation organisations purchased a part of the area to save it. Other parts have been in use for forestry.


Landscape

The most characteristic features of the park are the large heath lands. The structure of the terrain is quite varied with relatively high sandy hills and wet lower parts, including many fens. Some of these fens are pingo-ruins from the last glacial. In former days the heath was in use as a part of the agricultural system. At present it is not the case anymore so new ways have to be found to keep the heath in its present condition and to prevent the growth of trees. Sheep are still in use - there is a sheepfold in the park, but also cows are used to graze, and special machines are developed to manage the heath. In the park, one of largest Dutch
juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
thickets can be found.


Vegetation and wildlife

In the park four 'heath species' are rather common:
Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...
,
Erica tetralix ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe. Description It is a perennial subshrub with glandular leaves in whorls of four (whence the name). Appearing in summe ...
Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Desc ...
and
Andromeda polifolia ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs in ...
. There are also Rosera intermedia,
Eriophorum vaginatum ''Eriophorum vaginatum'', the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout t ...
, Gentiana pneumonanthe and several
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
species. In the Dwingelderveld area, three
snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
species occur and several rare
butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
.


Recreation

In the national park is a visitor centre. In addition, there are many camp sites, hotels and restaurants. There is also an
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
centre, the Planetron, accessible to tourists.


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in the Netherlands National parks of the Netherlands Tourist attractions in Drenthe Geography of Drenthe Westerveld