Local residents of the Kinholtsbos in Hoogeveen are angry. The municipality has laid a layer with asphalt granules on the natural forest paths and the neighborhood is not happy with that. Together with nature working group IVN Hoogeveen, they go on the breach to reverse the work.
It is a thin string forest, just between the asylum seekers center and the track. About five local residents walk on a forest path where now are asphalt granules. Campaigner Henny Hauschild grabs a few of them. “I am not happy with this at all, nobody wants this here,” she shouts.
Hauschild is worried about the impact of the asphalt granules on the surrounding nature and she is concerned about the rare flowers and plants in the area.
Nina Oostwoud from IVN Hoogeveen thinks the same thing about it. “This just hurts,” she says. “Nature is killed. I just don’t understand why the municipality would do this.” According to her, the work started without an announcement.
Someone who has studied the history of the Kinholtsbos is regional historian Albert Metselaar. He states that the forest is already 10,000 years old. “We speak of a primeval forest here, something unique!”
“There are so many things together on this place. Think of bushes, fields, rivers, you name it. Really a special combination. It is great that it has always been maintained, but of course it must remain that way,” says Metselaar.
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