DRENTS-FRIESE WOULD

The Drents-Friese would is a national park because the state recognizes its national significance and guarantees its protection. The Drents-Friese would is one of the largest nature reserves in the Netherlands with more than 6,000 hectares of forest, heathland, drifting sand, grasslands, stream valleys, peat bogs and fens.
The character of the Drents-Friese would has been significantly influenced by the potting stable culture. Large parts, such as the Aekingerzand near Appelscha (popularly known as the 'Kale Duinen'), were used for centuries by the farmers from the surrounding villages for grazing by sheep. Sod planted on the heath was placed in the stables as bedding and mixed with animal excrement to form compost, which was finally taken annually to the field on the ash tree for fertilization. As a result of this centuries of grazing and the cutting of sods for the cultivation of potting sheds, large parts of the acidic sandy soil became impoverished. In those places, heaths and sometimes drifting sand were formed.
The sandy plains and heaths ('wastelands') became increasingly wooded and so the Drents-Friese would was created.

In the photo: The Aekingerzand

Biker