SQUARES Aa

The valley of the Ruiten Aa has been the backbone of Westerwolde for many centuries, lying like a wedge in a large and almost uninhabited peat area. This peat area, the Bourtangerveen, has been almost entirely reclaimed.
Along the brook, many remnants of the esdorpen landscape can be found. Round agricultural complexes on higher sand ridges are interspersed with lower lands along the brook, which were originally grasslands. Much of the hedgerows and small forests that give the landscape a park-like character have been cleared due to land consolidation, but some has also been preserved.
After World War I, artificial fertilizer became affordable, but the still expensive fertilizer must especially not be washed away. To minimize the inconvenience of excess precipitation, existing brooks were deepened and straightened. Channelization causes water to be discharged too quickly, leading to drying out, which is unfavorable for nature reserves in particular. Since the 1990s, nature in the valley of the Ruiten Aa has been given ample opportunities again. The brook is allowed to meander as it once did.

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