New viewpoints in the Oostvaardersplassen display area

If you drive from the Grote Praambult near the Oostvaardersplassen on the Trekweg in the direction of Almere, you will see a newly designed area up to the A6. This is the Showcase area of the Oostvaardersplassen, designed as part of the New Nature Program of the Province of Flevoland. New in this Showcase area are no fewer than 4 new viewpoints between the Lage Vaart and the A6 motorway. Today, deputy Harold Hofstra of the Province of Flevoland and Susan Bonekamp, area manager Oostvaardersplassen of Staatsbosbeheer in Flevoland, officially opened the new viewpoints. Harold Hofstra: “This literally connects people and nature. An important objective of the New Nature program ”. Susan Bonekamp adds: “With this New Nature project we contribute to the habitat for birds and the nature experience for visitors to Nieuw Land National Park”. Unfortunately without the public for which these facilities are made, but logically in connection with the corona measures.

Three hills are accessible from the Trekweg and made with the soil that was released during the digging of pools in the area, which covers some 210 hectares.
Thanks to the screens on the hills, visitors can enjoy the varied view without disturbing the birds. This area has been specially designed as a feeding area for harriers and other (predatory) birds. By alternating strips of agricultural crops, wild flowers and grasses and borders of different shrubs with berries and pools, the area is attractive for mice and therefore also for birds of prey, different types of herons and all kinds of other animals. Many deer can also be seen in the area.

At the intersection of the Lage Vaart and the Lage Dwarsvaart to the south of the Hollandse Hout, a very special viewpoint has been realized. A beautifully designed bowl-shaped concrete element with different seat heights forms, as it were, a small natural theater from which, in the twilight, beavers that live in this area can be seen. But it can also be a location for cultural initiatives in nature. The design is by Movaris and is fully paid for from the New Nature program. The viewpoint with the provisional name 'Beverburcht' can be reached via a new semi-paved bicycle path of 4 kilometers from the Lage Knarsluis. In recent years, 45 hectares of new forest and a gene bank with traditional Dutch tree and shrub species have also been realized in the area. Seeds are extracted from this for growing trees and shrubs, which are well adapted to Dutch conditions and which are then used throughout the Netherlands in new forests and plantings.

In October 2013, the province of Flevoland launched the program New Nature. With the challenge for private individuals and nature organizations to develop accessible and perceptible nature themselves. Staatsbosbeheer filed a report in this context in 2014 plan in front of the showcase area of the Oostvaardersplassen, under the motto strengthening and connecting, close to the living environment. Five such projects have now been completed and other projects, such as the Showcase area, are currently in full swing.

Source: Staatsbosbeheer - www.boswachtersblog.nl