The Dwingelderveld is known as the largest wet heathland area in Western Europe. Yet the nature reserve appears to be drying out. This affects plants and animals that depend on wet conditions. But how do we actually know that the nature reserve is ‘driing up’?
Volunteers from Natuurmonumenten go into the field every week. Armed with a tape measure, they visit a number of measuring points spread across the Dwingelderveld. One of those volunteers is Luc Valeton.
Early in the morning Luc starts his round. It takes him almost five hours to visit all the measuring points. “And afterwards I’m completely devastated,” says Luc. “Sometimes you have to walk a long way through the field to get to a measuring point.” The water level has been measured for years. Precisely because the measurements are carried out week after week, a reliable picture is created of the development of the water level in the nature reserve. “We measure in 23 places,” says Valeton. “Seven of these are measuring points for surface water and the rest for groundwater.”