Het Groene Woud (The Green Forest) is a special area of the Netherlands which is located in

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic 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 ...

between the cities of

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

and

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. It includes nature reserves such as the Kampina, the

Oisterwijk Oisterwijk () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. Population centres *Haaren, North Brabant, Haaren *Heukelom, North Brabant, Heukelom *Moergestel *Oisterwijk Topography ''Dutch top ...

forests and fens, Velderbos and the

Dommel The Dommel is a small river in Belgium and the Netherlands, left tributary of the Dieze. It is 120 km long, of which 85 km are in the Netherlands. The Dommel takes in water from the Keersop, Tongelreep, Run (stream), Run, Gender (stream), Gender a ...

. In 2004 "Het Groene Woud" is designated by the government as a National Landscape. This is to prevent the area between the three large cities from becoming more urbanized. The combination of nature,

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

and environmental recreation form a valuable cultural and historical landscape. "Het Groene Woud" covers a total of 7,500 hectares of marshes, meadows and agricultural landscape. It covers the municipalities

Boxtel Boxtel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) deer, buck.2019. Etymolog ...

Sint-Oedenrode Sint-Oedenrode () is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Sint-Oedenrode is a moderately urbanized town in the Meierij of 's-Hertogenbosch. Sint-Oedenrode had a population of 18,360 as of and has an area of . On 1 January 2017 Sint- ...

Schijndel Schijndel () is a town and former municipality in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. Schijndel is located approximately southeast of 's-Hertogenbosch. Schijndel was founded on 6 December 1309. On 1 January 2017 Schijn ...

Sint-Michielsgestel Sint-Michielsgestel () is a village in the municipality of Sint-Michielsgestel (municipality), Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. Geography The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer, Belgium, Peer in Belgium. Just nort ...

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

Oirschot Oirschot (; ''Orskot'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and town in the province of North Brabant (Noord-Brabant) in the southern Netherlands. It is from Eindhoven and from Tilburg. The municipality had a population of in . Populat ...

, Haaren and

Vught Vught () is a municipality and a town in the Province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live there, and in 2004 the town was named "Best ...

. In Het Groene Woud, many species of

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

can be encountered: These include:

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

(introduced in 2017), roe deer,

European badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a w ...

Eurasian harvest mouse The harvest mouse (''Micromys minutus'') is a small rodent native to Europe and Asia. It is typically found in fields of cereal crops, such as wheat and oats, in reed beds and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long grass and hedgerows. I ...

European polecat The European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), also known as the common polecat, black polecat and forest polecat, is a mustelid species native to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. It is of a generally dark brown colour, with a pale underbel ...

European water vole The European water vole (''Arvicola amphibius'') or northern water vole is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep bro ...

European hedgehog The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S. ...

, Eurasian red squirrel, common pipistrelle,

European hare The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...

brown long-eared bat The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

serotine bat The serotine bat (''Eptesicus serotinus''), also known as the common serotine bat, big brown bat, or silky bat, is a fairly large Eurasian bat with quite large ears. It has a wingspan of around and often hunts in woodland. It sometimes roosts ...

Eurasian beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a species of beaver widespread across Eurasia, with a rapidly increasing population of at least 1.5 million in 2020. The Eurasian beaver was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur ...

European mole The European mole (''Talpa europaea'') is a mammal of the order Eulipotyphla. It is also known as the common mole and the northern mole. This mole lives in a tunnel system, which it constantly extends. It uses these tunnels to hunt its prey. ...

Natterer's bat Natterer's bat (''Myotis nattereri'') is a European Vespertilionidae, vespertilionid bat with pale wings. It has brown fur tending to greyish-white on its underside. It is found across most of the continent of Europe, parts of the Near East and No ...

least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus ''Mustela,'' Family (biology), family Mustelidae and Order (biology), order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North Ame ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

Daubenton's bat Daubenton's bat or Daubenton's myotis (''Myotis daubentonii'') is a Eurasian bat with rather short ears. It occurs across Eurasia, from Ireland in the west to Hokkaido in the east, and is believed to be increasing its numbers in many areas of it ...

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 ...

and several species of

shrew Shrews ( family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to dif ...

dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family (biology), family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their ...

apodemus ''Apodemus'' is a genus of Muridae, murid (true mice and rats) containing the field mice as well as other well-known species like the wood mouse and the yellow-necked mouse. The name is unrelated to that of the ''Mus (genus), Mus'' genus, instead ...

and

arvicolinae The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae (comprising the hamsters and New World rats and mice). Some authorities plac ...

Hiking, canoeing and cycling activities are possible in this area.

References

{{coord, 51.5800, N, 5.2808, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:NL, display=title Nature reserves in the Netherlands Geography of North Brabant