Zuid-Kennemerland National Park (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Nationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland'') is a conservation area on the west coast of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. It was established in 1995.

History

Dutch conservationist

Jac. P. Thijsse Jacobus Pieter Thijsse (25 July 1865 – 8 January 1945) was a Dutch conservationist and botanist. He founded the Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments in the Netherlands. In 1925, on the occasion of his 60th birthday he was honored ...

first wrote about a possible

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

between

Bloemendaal Bloemendaal () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. In October 2015, after persistent problems with the local governa ...

and the

North Sea Canal The North Sea Canal ( nl, Noordzeekanaal) is a Dutch ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea at IJmuiden, constructed between 1865 and 1876 to enable seafaring vessels to reach the port of Amsterdam. This man-made channel terminates at Amsterd ...

in 1944. As a result, the national park De Kennemerduinen was established in 1950.Hans Schmit,
Duingebied bij IJmuiden nu zevende nationale park
(in Dutch), ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Tr ...

'', 1995. Retrieved 29 November 2016. The Zuid-Kennemerland National Park was established in 1995. It comprised De Kennemerduinen, several nature reserves managed by

Vereniging Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland ( en, Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments in the Netherlands), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Piet ...

and some other areas.

Geography

The park is situated west of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

in the province of

in the west of the Netherlands. It is located within the municipalities of

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known a ...

, and

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

. It includes the southern portion of the region known as

Kennemerland Kennemerland is a coastal region in the northwestern Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It includes the sand dunes north of the North Sea Canal, as well as the dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. History Kennemerland gets its ...

. South Kennemerland is characterized by sand

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. The park, about in size, also includes some estates, forests on the dune fringes, and coastal beaches. The dunes used to be a

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

for the city of

. Large amounts have been won for consumption. In 2003, these activities were ceased, allowing the groundwater-bubble to grow again. There is a small public swimming area open in the summer at a location called ''the Wed'' on the road between

and

. The train from Zandvoort to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

travels through the park. The park borders and is connected with the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes (''Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen'') another big reserve owned by Amsterdam. This reserve is about the same size, with a similar ecosystem and wildlife; together they form one big dune ecosystem.

Management

The park is owned and managed collectively by ''

'' (Natural Monuments Association), ''

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 ...

'' (State Forestry), ''PWN '' (Water Supply Company North Holland), ''Province of North Holland'', IVN, and the surrounding municipalities and private owners.

Visitors

In 2008, the park had 1.8 million visitors. The visitors centre is located in at Zeeweg 12 in

Overveen Overveen is a village in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Bloemendaal. Overveen lies on the eastern fringe of the North Sea dunes. To the east it borders the built-up areas of Haarlem. A few kilometres to the west of the ...

, called ''De Kennemerduinen'', next to parking ''Koevlak''.

Biology

Flora

The dunes are rich in

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

, allowing the growth of several plant species which are rare in the Netherlands. The inland dunes are covered with bacciferous shrubs attracting a variety of songbirds. About 800 different plant species that grow in the dune area of South Kennemerland are displayed in

Thijsse's Hof Thijsse's Hof (The garden of Thijsse) is a wildlife garden in Bloemendaal, the Netherlands. It was created in 1925 on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Jac. P. Thijsse, naturalist and nature conservationist. It is the oldest wildlife garden in ...

(Garden of Thijsse), in

. This

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, rep ...

was founded in 1925, and is the oldest in the Netherlands.

Fauna

Over 100 bird species, as well as nearly 20 butterfly species, have been observed in the park. The mammals

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

West 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. ...

European rabbit The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...

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 (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

live in the park. Besides Highland cattle,

Shetland pony The Shetland pony is a Scottish breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles in the north of Scotland. It may stand up to at the withers. It has a heavy coat and short legs, is strong for its size, and is used for riding, driving, and pa ...

, and

Konik The Konik or Polish Konik, pl, konik polski, is a Polish List of horse breeds, breed of pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually dun gene, mouse dun or primitive markings, striped dun in color. The Bilgoray, p ...

s, an experiment was started in spring 2007 by releasing a small number of

wisent The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...

s. These European bison could be dangerous to people and therefore were released in an area not publicly accessible. The wisents may be observed from a purpose-built viewing platform, a walking path (closed between 1 March and 1 September and during excursions). Together with Amsterdamse Waterleiding Duinen reserve, this park could potentially be a suitable habitat for wolves (who can help tackle deer populations on a natural way) say multiple wolf experts including those of ark nature development, who work closely with the park and with the biggest wolf organization in the Netherlands: “wolven in Nederland”. The park also is interested in the possibility of a reintroduction of

lynxes A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, On ...

in the park to help the deer populations. The upcoming

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy y ...

also might find the park for the first time ever.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Protected areas established in 1995 1995 establishments in the Netherlands Dunes of the Netherlands Forests of the Netherlands National parks of the Netherlands Parks in North Holland Bloemendaal Velsen Zandvoort