The Green Wood

The National Landscape the Green Woods is an area of 35,000 hectares within the triangle of Eindhoven - Tilburg - 's-Hertogenbosch. The area has a core of 7,500 hectares of nature, consisting of forests, marshes, heath, and agricultural poplar landscapes.
The so-called clay forests (clay is a material finer than sand) of Central Brabant form the natural core of the National Landscape The Green Woods. They often have a long history and have developed relatively naturally. Clay forests have a high biodiversity (many species of plants and animals), which is associated with the relatively moist soils on which they have formed.
What makes the Green Woods special is its small scale and therefore the great variation in the landscape. Its origins go back in time when humans began to reclaim the wasteland. This is still clearly visible in the rounded fields, which were created by fertilizing poor soils with heath sods and manure, and of which some examples can be found around Liempde and Haaren. Or in the extensive poplar meadows, so-called landscape coulis. A landscape coulis is a semi-open landscape that has the character of a stage with wings due to the plantings and buildings. The plantings consist mainly of hedgerows and hedges. While walking through a landscape coulis, one can see landscape elements disappear behind it and reappear a moment later.
The Kampina (between Boxtel and Oisterwijk) is still a rugged nature reserve. The name Kampina is derived from the Roman ‘Campina,’ another name for Kempen, which means 'waste land.' It is one of the few places in North Brabant where no buildings are visible.
The origin of the Oisterwijk fens (shallow lakes on sandy soil) is not entirely certain in all cases, but since there are both drifting sand areas and stream valleys in the immediate vicinity, it is believed that there are both outwash depressions and floodplain fens.
In any case, the significant variation between the fens is remarkable.
The Kampina and the Oisterwijkse Vennen (both designated as geological monuments) together form a beautiful example of the gently undulating Brabant cover sand landscape with parabolic dunes, forests, heath fields, fens, and transitions to poor grasslands in the stream valleys.

WITH THE PHOTO
The Van Esschenven in Oisterwijk is located in a long, blown-out depression between southwest-northeast running cover sand ridges. According to the prevailing wind direction, the highest blown ridges and dunes are on the eastern side of the fen.

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