De Maasduinen National Park ''(duinen = dunes)'' is a national park in the Dutch province of
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
, founded in 1996 and covering approximately 4500 ha. The landscape consists of forests and heathlands on a sandy plateau along the river
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
close to the German border.
The estate 'de Hamert' is the heart of the park. Until 1998 the national park was called 'De Hamert' after this estate. The present name is derived from the parabolic
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s which date from the last glaciation.
Landscape and history
The present characteristics of the park are strongly influenced by an intense interplay of wind, water and humans through the course of time, resulting in a unique pattern of drifting sand ridges or parabolic dunes. At present drifting sand is rare due to the forestry programs of the state at the beginning of the 20th century. Besides heathlands and forests, there are several fens in the park. A part of the area was used for sand and gravel extraction in the 1980s.
Flora and fauna
In the park quite a lot of
reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s and
amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s species occur such as ''
Smooth snake
The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and cen ...
'', ''
Natterjack toad
The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid g ...
'', ''
Pelobates fuscus'', ''
Sand lizard
The sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis'') is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe from France and across the continent to Lake Baikal in Russia. It does not occur in European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy. In the sand lizard ...
'', ''
Slow worm
The slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a reptile native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, a slowworm, a blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple and hazelworm. These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms. Th ...
'', and ''
Viviparous lizard
The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning i ...
''. Some typical birds for the park are ''
Common crane
The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') and the Siberi ...
'', ''
European nightjar
The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwest ...
'', ''
Eurasian hobby
The Eurasian hobby (''Falco subbuteo'') or just hobby, is a small, slim falcon. It belongs to a rather close-knit group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus '' Hypotriorchis''.
Taxonomy and systematics
The first formal description of ...
'', ''
Western marsh harrier
The western marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were includ ...
'', ''
Black woodpecker
The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...
'' and ''
Common kingfisher
The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...
''. Several marten species can be found in the park, such as the beaver (''
Eurasian beaver
The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...
''), as well as several bat species such as ''
Common pipistrelle
The common pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus pipistrellus'') is a small pipistrelle microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and may extend into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the Brit ...
'' and ''
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 on ...
''. There are at least 26 species of
dragonflies
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
and 33 species of
butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
.
Among the flora we find several
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
species,
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
,
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
,
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
and
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
and the very rare marsh gentian (''
Gentiana pneumonanthe
''Gentiana pneumonanthe'', the marsh gentian, is a species of the genus ''Gentiana
''Gentiana'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family (Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. ...
'') and bog myrtle (''
Myrica gale
''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae, native to parts of Japan, North Korea, Russia, mainland Europe, the British Isles and parts of northern North America, in Canada and the United States. Common names include ...
'').
Management
Responsible for the management of the park are the municipality of
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, the provincial private nature conservation organisation Stichting het Limburgs Landschap,
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 some private land owners.
One of the aims of the management is to connect the national park with other nature reserves. Other aims are to prevent forest growth in the heathlands (for this, sheep are used) and to stimulate natural rejuvenation of the forests (for this,
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
s and goat are used).
See also
*
Well, Limburg#Localities
External links
Official website
{{authority control
Protected areas established in 1996
1996 establishments in the Netherlands
Maasduinen National Park
Parks in Limburg (Netherlands)
Bergen, Limburg
Gennep