Maasheggen

The Maasheggen are a landscape and a chain of nature reserves on the Meuse between the North Brabant town of Vierlingsbeek and Batenburg in Gelderland. The Maasheggen are best preserved in North Brabant.
Characteristic of the Maasheggen is that the landscape is divided into a large number of small plots separated from each other by hawthorn and blackthorn hedges. The hawthorn bushes are cut half through and guided to the side, so that the bushes grow into each other (this is called 'laying'). Where sawing has been done, new branches grow so that a very dense hedge is created. Because the hedges are so densely intertwined, they form an impenetrable separation. They mainly serve as field separations and cattle barriers, but also help keep predators out. Every time the floodplains are flooded, the hedges help collect silt; When the water recedes, the silt is left behind, making the soil in the area very fertile. That is why, since the summer of 2018, Maasheggen has been awarded UNESCO human and biosphere status.

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