Beautiful colours in the vegetation and sky in Munnikenland

by Silvia Thiel

East of Slot Loevestein is the 224-hectare Loevesteyn nature reserve, owned by the Forestry Commission. The Battery below Brakel is also part of this area. Moreover, a plan to make an even larger part of the Munnikenland suitable for water storage, nature and recreation as part of Room for the River was started in early 2009. The zoning plan for this project was adopted in 2012.

The dike of Buitenpolder het Munnikenland was moved to the east and clay was excavated in the floodplains Gandelwaard and Brakel Lower Valleys. A new Wakkere Dijk was constructed about 500 metres west of the century-old Nieuwedijk.[1] After the construction of the Wakkere Dijk, the existing Waaldijk was partly excavated,[1] giving the rivers more space, resulting in a lowering of the water level. At high tide, the old polder fills up and this affects the formation of the land.[1] From the Wakkere Dijk, visitors have a view of the new land and furthermore, grazers and other animals can flee to it when the rivers have more water to cope with.[1] On Thursday 9 June 2016, the completion was a fact, after which the area will be extensively managed, with nature taking its course as much as possible.