Lauwersmeer National Park ( nl, Nationaal Park Lauwersmeer) is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

in the provinces of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

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 ...

. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of the

Lauwersmeer Lauwersmeer () is a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 23 May 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea was closed. It ...

(previously

Lauwerszee Lauwersmeer () is a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 23 May 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea was closed. It i ...

). As part of the Dutch

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

Conservation Area, it was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

for its outstanding biodiversity and its large, relatively pristine intertidal ecosystem.

Geography

In the north of the

, the Lauwers river forms part of the east-west border between the provinces of

and

. The Lauwers flows from south to north into the

. The

is its

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, which is connected to the sea via a sluice at

Lauwersoog Lauwersoog is a seaside village and harbour in the province of Groningen, located in the northern part of the Netherlands. It is part of the municipality of Het Hogeland. It was established on 23 May 1969. The ferry to Schiermonnikoog departs fr ...

. The national park consists of most of the Lauwersmeer and is situated in the Frisian municipalities of

Dongeradeel Dongeradeel (; fy, Dongeradiel ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân. History Donge ...

and Kollumerland c.a. in

and the Groningen municipality of

De Marne De Marne () is a former municipality in the northeast of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Bedum, Eemsmond and Winsum to form the new municipality Het Hogeland. Population centres Broek, Eenrum, Hornhui ...

History

On 25 May 1969, the Lauwers Sea was enclosed and separated from the

, since then it has been called

. The Lauwersmeer gradually became a freshwater lake and new flora and fauna appeared. To protect this new and young nature area, the Lauwersmeer became a national park on 12 November 2003.

Fauna and flora

Among the flora are the purple ''

Dactylorhiza maculata ''Dactylorhiza maculata'', known as the heath spotted-orchid or moorland spotted orchid, is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Orchidaceae. It is widespread in mountainous regions across much of Europe from Portugal and Iceland east to R ...

'' and the white ''

Parnassia The genus ''Parnassia'', also known as grass of Parnassus or bog-stars, are plants now placed in the family Celastraceae, formerly classified in Parnassiaceae or Saxifragaceae. The plants occur in arctic and alpine habitats, as well as in dune ...

''. Among the birds living in the area are the Eurasian Spoonbill, the Montagu's Harrier, the

Bearded Reedling The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexually dimorphic reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbill. It is the only species ...

, and the

Bluethroat The bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small Europea ...

. For the winter, hundred thousands of birds migrate to the area, like the

Eurasian Wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy Th ...

, the

Tundra Swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and th ...

, and the

Barnacle Goose The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus ''Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser'' species. Despite its superficial ...

. To keep the landscape open, big grazers are used like the

Konik The Konik or Polish Konik, pl, konik polski, is a Polish breed of pony. There are semi- feral populations in some regions. They are usually mouse dun or striped dun in color. The Bilgoray, pl, konik biłgorajski, of south-eastern Poland is ...

horses and Highland cattle, besides normal horses and cows.

References

External links

Official website
Protected areas established in 2003 2003 establishments in the Netherlands National parks of the Netherlands Ramsar sites in the Netherlands Geography of Friesland Geography of Groningen (province) Tourist attractions in Friesland Tourist attractions in Groningen (province) Het Hogeland Noardeast-Fryslân {{Groningen-geo-stub