About forty volunteers rolled up their sleeves today on the border of the Veenbroeken estate and Zeijerwiek and Veldakkersveen. The volunteers were together for the Nature Work Day, in which around 15,000 people participated nationally.
The Veldakkersveen near Zeijen has been maintained by volunteers for 40 years in a row. The Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund also thought it was special, which awarded the project with the Green Carnation Prize. Because setting up a working group is one thing, but recruiting the people to carry out the work year in, year out is something else.
Natascha Stenvert from Zeijen tries to be present every year. “It’s very pleasant. And it gives you the feeling that you are not only consuming, but also contributing to the environment where you live. I enjoy contributing to that.”
Henk Boxma is chairman of the Zeijerwiek and Environment Foundation working group and he explains that there are two types of activities. “We saw and remove the storage so that it remains as open as possible. Furthermore, the grass is removed because otherwise the soil becomes too nutrient-rich.”
Stenvert enjoys sawing the most. “That would never be allowed otherwise,” she laughs.
Boxma is happy with the Green Carnation Prize, which involves a sum of 5,000 euros. “On the other side of Zeijen, we want to use that money to create a nice information point.”