The Dwingelderveld is one of the first areas in Drenthe where nature conservationists started working to restore and protect nature. That was over fifty years ago now. In a series of four reports we pay attention to fifty years of nature restoration in Drenthe. In the first report we go back in time together with ecologist Hans Dekker.
“Time did not stand still and the spirit of the times was reclamation. It went against that spirit of the times to preserve heathland here,” says Dekker. “Nature restoration on this scale has hardly been carried out anywhere else, the seeds for this were planted here.”
The ecologist goes to the heart of the Dwingelderveld. “Behind us is the Kraloërplas, the location of a beautiful, almost symbolic photo with Jac. P. Thijsse and two men from Drenthe who look at the extent to which we would be able to preserve the heath. That was around 1929.”
The first steps to protect and preserve Drenthe’s nature were then taken. “If they had not done that, it would now be all corn and grassland here. And there is nothing wrong with that, but that is something different from beautifully blooming heather.”
One of the consequences of nature management in the Dwingelderveld is that the rare water lobelia has returned. It is a perennial aquatic plant that belongs to the bellflower family and is on the Red List because it has greatly decreased in number and is very rare. The plant blooms in July and August with light lilac-colored flowers. Even now, in autumn, a few last flowering ones can be found.
“We started reorganizing the area more than twenty-five years ago,” says forest ranger Hans Kruk. “There was still forest at the time. We removed the forest in this entire area, which we now call Koelevaartsveen, and excavated part of the top layer.”
Parts of the old rift have been restored and the area has returned to its original state, with the species that traditionally belong there. “In the years that followed, we saw that the water lobelia simply returned, while it is a species that had disappeared since the 1940s and 1950s.”
“We practiced and tried out what you can achieve if you remove the forest in such a landscape, remove the building furrows and restore the water level,” says Dekker. “You see that nature is responding. Despite all the environmental pressure that still exists, we have achieved a lot in Drenthe.”
“You can say that the glass is half empty, but through examples like this you see that the glass is also half full. You can enjoy the results we have achieved with nature restoration. The water lobelia is an icon of this.”
“We saw how important the Dwingelderveld is and adjusted our management accordingly step by step,” says Kruk. “Our wish is that this will be preserved for many generations. This can be done with major interventions but also with small-scale interventions, which will ultimately only make it more beautiful.”