Lauwzelle Wood

The Lauzelle wood extends into the sandy-loamy Brabant, on the northern edge of the Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve agglomeration. Covering an area of approximately 230 hectares, it is a remnant of the former coal forest that once covered a large portion of the region. The terrain is quite hilly, with a maximum altitude not exceeding 120 m, and the soils primarily consist of Brussels sands. A small tributary of the Dyle, the Blanc Ri, flows through the site from east to west, feeding several ponds through numerous springs. Dominated by beech trees, the vegetation of the Lauzelle wood also includes riparian alder–ash forests as well as eutrophic wet alder forests, groupings of great phytosociological interest. In addition, very locally, fragments of heather moors, sandy grasslands, magnocaricetums, and megaphorbia communities are maintained. The flora includes several remarkable elements such as the clandestine lathraea (Lathraea clandestina), a curious parasitic plant that exists in Wallonia only in the western part of the Brabant district. The faunal interest of the massif is also high with the presence of rare or uncommon species. Among the breeding birds are notably the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) and the middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), recently arrived.

Public Access: A management plan exists and is being implemented, but it pertains to the entire Lauzelle wood and thus the protected site. It is carried out by the Forestry Commission of UCL and aims to maintain ecosystems in balance with their environment. In the reserve itself, the heather moor has been cleared from the underbrush through brush clearing.
Type: Site of Great Biological Interest (SGIB)

La biodiversité en Wallonie