View of the Calmeynbos in De Panne (Belgium - West Flanders) by Galerie Ringoot

View of the Calmeyn forest in De Panne (Belgium - West Flanders) - painted by Belgian artist Pieter Ringoot around 1980 - Oil on canvas. (The original painting has a size of 108cmx80 cm.

Pieter Ringoot was not someone who really loved traveling far abroad. Going on vacation 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 works painted in the vicinity of the West Flemish coastal towns of De Panne and Oostduinkerke.

The Calmeyn forest is located on the territory of De Panne. The forest is intersected 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 western part of the Calmeynbos is owned by the Intercommunal Waterworks of Veurne-Ambacht.

The forest was planted in 1903, partly on dunes with intact relief, partly on leveled 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 a deciduous forest of 85 ha planted.

The forest is a well-developed abel- elm forest with spontaneous rejuvenation and great biotic and abiotic variability. Today it grows 25 species of trees and 40 species of shrubs. 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) is a semi-open dune landscape.

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