The nature reserve Kinsendaal

The Kinsendaal nature reserve and its eastern extensions, the Kriekenput and the Herdies estate, form a semi-natural area of almost 10 hectares with remarkable diversity (marshy or mixed forest, wet or tall grassland, abandoned orchards, fallow land, springs, streams, pond). The whole is also an important hub in the Green and Blue network of Brussels.

The management plan guarantees the natural evolution of the area (the so-called 'integral' management) by limiting maintenance to safety interventions (trimming or felling dangerous trees along the roads), periodically clearing the ponds to prevent them from becoming overgrown, mowing the meadows in the autumn so that they are not recolonized by forest vegetation, and repairing furniture, fences, and pontoons.

The dead wood is not removed. It remains standing or lying and serves as shelter for fauna and as a substrate for various forms of mushrooms.

The Kinsendaal-Kriekenput site is an important hub in the Brussels Blue network. Part of the old pond has been transformed into a pool. The Geleytsbeek, which before entering the reserve flowed into the drain of Englandstraat, has also been diverted to a separate pipe so that it can be reconnected to the Groelsbeek, which flows openly through the reserve.

More information at: https://environnement.brussels/fiche/la-reserve-du-kinsendael-kriekenput-0