The number of people who visit nature during free moments has grown explosively in recent years. And research shows that this increase is far from coming to a halt. Nature professionals are therefore concerned about the damage caused by our massive visits to forests and parks.
Forest ranger concerned about growing numbers of visitors to the Groenendaal walking forest – NH Nieuws
“Since corona, the number of people in the forest has certainly increased by 200 percent, at least,” says forester Rogier Veldhuisen. Together with a number of colleagues, he looks after the Groenendael hiking forest in Heemstede and watches the developments with concern. “It is very two-fold. On the one hand you want people to come and enjoy the site as it is intended, on the other hand it should not be too much,” says Veldhuisen.
Unbeaten Paths
The forester is especially concerned about the new trails that are created because hikers – in search of solitude – deviate from the beaten path. Groenendaal is a forest on sandy soil and if the vegetation is trampled down, it will take years before it has recovered.
There is a danger that the walking forest will eventually consist of more paths than woods. The foresters have tried to barricade the new paths to give them back to nature, but the hikers turn out to be hard-learned. They remove the blockages with their own hands in order to be able to wander deep into the forest.
“You want to avoid having only tufts of trees with mainly paths around them”
Another problem that arises from ‘overwalking’ is the impoverishment of biodiversity. An excess of dog pee and poop causes over-fertilization that some plants thrive on. Nettles and blackberries thrive on nitrogen-rich soil, but other plants disappear. By periodically excavating blackberry bushes, the foresters try to monitor the biodiversity in the walking forest.
Paid walking
The forest rangers hope to get the excessive visits to the forest under control through information. For example, on weekdays it is advised to avoid rush hours in the morning around 8 a.m. and at the end of the day. They also call on everyone to come for a walk on days off, but to stay on the official paths.
If that friendly approach doesn’t work, more oversight will be needed. If that doesn’t work, the ranger is even in favor of levying a small entrance fee, but he sincerely hopes it never has to come to that. When asked whether his job as a forester does not become less fun with all the hustle and bustle, the forester hastens to say that he has the best job in the world.