The forest and nature area the Geelders is located at the western side of the village of Olland in

Meierijstad Meierijstad () is a municipality in the province of North Brabant. The municipality is the result of a merger between the municipalities Schijndel, Sint-Oedenrode and Veghel in 2017. After the merger it became the largest municipality in terms of ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to th ...

and covers almost 300 hectares. The Geelders are part of the larger area

Het Groene Woud Het Groene Woud (The Green Forest) is a special area of the Netherlands which is located in North Brabant between the cities of Tilburg, Eindhoven and 's-Hertogenbosch. It includes nature reserves such as the Kampina, the Oisterwijk forests and f ...

. The varied landscape of the Geelders consists of coppice hedges, with

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

forests with drover's roads, poplars,

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat (ecology), habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great B ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

and farmland. Already in the 17th century was the area used for the production of oak coppice. The bark of trees was used in the tannery. In order to exploit the forest as well as possible there were wide drover's roads constructed. For an extensive system of drainage there were ditches and trenches constructed. On the available new land there were ''rabatten'' made, which are the higher ground ridges between the trenches which were used for

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...

. Cavities in old and often declining trees are grateful breeding and hiding places for tawny owls and

beech marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

s. In spring the forest soils are covered with millions of wood anemones, which are pleasing to the eye. The clay layer keeps the area quite wet and as result there can be found rare plants like

true lover's knot The term true lover's knot, also called true love knot, is used for many distinct knots. The association of knots with the symbolism of love, friendship and affection dates back to antiquity. Because of this, no single knot can be labeled the ...

, '' Dactylorhiza maculata'', royal fern and primrose. Also native specimens of wild medlar,

Guelder rose ''Viburnum opulus'', the guelder-rose or guelder rose () is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae) native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduou ...

, dog rose and hawthorn can be found in the area. For more than 100 years an important part of the property is owned by the family Marggraff from Vught. Since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the main management by this family consisted out of ''doing nothing''. As a result of the lack of human interference, the Geelders is in a high natural state and is now one of the most valuable wetlands in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Staatsbosbeheer has marked several trails through the Geelders.

References

{{coord missing, Netherlands Forests of the Netherlands Geography of North Brabant Meierijstad