Meerdaal, also known as Meerdaalwoud and Meerdaalbos, is a woodland lying east of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and south of

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. Th ...

, on the loess

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of Brabant in central

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. The bigger part of it has most likely been continuously forested since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but the

archaeological record The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological ...

and

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...

give evidence of a profound human influence, probably including agriculture, during the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

and the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

Miradal

In 1146 Meerdaal was known as ''silva de miradal''. ''Silva'' refers to a place dominated by trees; ''dal'' refers to a valley; the origin of ''mira'' is unclear.

Free Wood

From 1406 until the end of the 18th century Meerdaal was endowed with the statute of Free Wood, which, for example, refers to its independent law court and rules.

Oak, pannage and boars

Numerous documents give evidence of

pannage Pannage (also referred to as ''Eichelmast'' or ''Eckerich'' in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia) is the practice of releasing livestock-pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on fallen acorns, beec ...

in Ducal Free Woods Like Meerdaal during the dark and cold months of the 16th, 17th and 18th century. This pannage was obviously well-adjusted to

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

, as Meerdaal kept its age-long reputation for high-quality oak

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

up to the present day. Pigs were restricted to well-appointed areas and evidently kept out of young stands by swine herders, who also built wooden cages for the animals. But the Free Wood of Meerdaal was not only a place for pannage, coppice or timber. It also had to keep up a reputation as a chase, housing

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s, their hybrids with

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus ''Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s, and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

.Baeté, Hans et alii. ''Heerlijk Vrijwoud'' (chapter based on archives) in: ''Miradal. Erfgoed in Heverleebos en Meerdaalwoud''. Davidsfonds Uitgeverij, 2009.

Modern forestry

Today, Meerdaal Forest is managed as a multifunctional forest. High quality timber production keeps to play an important role but is combined with the conservation of high quality nature, recreation and education.

Hiking

Today, Meerdaalwoud and the adjacent Heverleebos - together covering an area of almost 25 km² - are very popular for hiking.

Location

References

{{Reflist Forests of Belgium Geography of Flemish Brabant Geography of Walloon Brabant Tourist attractions in Flemish Brabant Tourist attractions in Walloon Brabant Beauvechain Bierbeek Grez-Doiceau Oud-Heverlee