Nature in Drenthe held few secrets for Jan van Ginkel (1954-2023). For thirty years he worked at the Field Study Center in Orvelte, he founded the Juniper Guild and wrote books. He passed away on Tuesday.
Van Ginkel was born in Veenendaal, studied at the Pedagogical Academy in Ede and did teacher training in geography and biology in Utrecht. In 1982 he joined the Veldstudiecentrum in Orvelte, where he was involved in nature education.
In 1984 he also moved to Orvelte and would always stay there. Over the years, Van Ginkel has published articles in various nature magazines and books.
When it became known in 2004 that the juniper, one of the most characteristic shrubs of the Drenthe heath landscape, was threatened with extinction, he founded the Jeneverbesgilde together with the then IVN nature consultant Jan Tuttel and Jan Grotenhuis of the province. The goal was to save the bush, including by conducting new research into it waddle bossie as he is also called in Drents.
Waggle Jan
Their projects To the breach for the juniper won the AD Natuurprijs in 2008, which involved an amount of 25,000 euros and a trip to Africa for two people. After the win, Van Ginkel wondered aloud whether you “should go on holiday to Africa at this time”. “Such a trip means a considerable attack on the environment. I am critical of global tourism. Traveling unnecessarily,” he said in 2008 DVHN . “You can also make very nice trips at a shorter distance and with more environmentally friendly means of transport.”
The book he compiled was published a year earlier Juniper, Nature and Cultural History in stories, poems and images , with texts by himself, but also by other writers and poets. On several occasions Van Ginkel took on the role of Waggel Jan, a historical figure who wandered around Borger and the surrounding area in the 19th century and collected juniper berries, which he sold to pharmacists. Juniper berries used to be known for their medicinal properties.
‘I love my wife more’
Van Ginkel had become one with the nature of Drenthe. His book was published in 2016 Happy with trees , in which he describes about forty trees and shrubs in Drenthe. “I recognize that people talk to trees. I also have a bond with nature, but I love my wife just a little more,” he joked at the time DVHN .
In 2019, as a resident, he and his wife took up arms against the plan of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe to cut down sixty oaks along the Orange Canal for a bicycle path. At least fifteen of them were more than a hundred years old, Van Ginkel told this newspaper. He called the reasons given by the municipality for the felling plans ‘kular arguments’. Eventually the whole plan disappeared from the table.
‘Memoirs’
His last book Snuustern in Drenthe’s nature and culture from 2020 is described by former colleague Aaltje Bos – who was regularly by his side during performances by Waggel Jan in the role of his wife Annegien – as Van Ginkel’s memoirs. He takes the reader along on his walks through Drenthe, as it were.
Van Ginkel had been ill for some time. In December he received the Harry de Vroome Penning from Het Drentse Landschap. He received a special medal of honor, in addition to the usual biennial award, which honors him for the way in which he has committed himself to nature in Drenthe.
Last Tuesday he passed away in Orvelte. At the Hillig Meer cemetery, his body is entrusted to nature.