Forest path in the Calmeynbos in De Panne - Oil on canvas by Galerie Ringoot

View of the Calmeynbos in De Panne (Belgium - West Flanders) - painted by Belgian artist Pieter Ringoot around 1980 - Oil on canvas

The original work has a size of 40x50 cm

Pieter Ringoot was not someone who really liked travelling far abroad. Going on holiday was something the family usually just did on the Belgian coast. However, he never left without his sketchbook and some painting supplies. (Something I, as Pieter's grandson, never do either, by the way) The result of this are several mostly impressionist works painted in the vicinity of the West Flemish coastal towns of De Panne and Oostduinkerke.

The Calmeynbos is located on the territory of De Panne. The forest is bisected by the Kerkstraat, which forms the connection between De Panne and Adinkerke. The eastern part of the forest is owned by the municipality of De Panne and joins the Oosthoek dunes. The forest was planted in 1903, partly on dunes with intact relief, partly on levelled former fields. This was done on the initiative of agricultural engineer Maurice Calmeyn. He was interested in the growth potential of trees in calcareous dunes and therefore had an 85 ha deciduous forest planted.

The forest is a well-developed elm-apple forest with spontaneous rejuvenation and great biotic and abiotic variability. Today, 25 species of trees and 40 species of shrubs grow there. It is rich in mosses, lichens and fungi and provides breeding opportunities for forest birds such as the golden oriole and several species of woodpeckers. Both to the east (the Oosthoekduinen) and to the west (the Krakeelduinen) lies a semi-open dune landscape.

Since 1935, the forest has been protected as a landscape and it is also part of the Natura 2000 network as part of 'Dune areas including IJzermonding and Zwin' (source; wikipedia)