Polders
A unique landscape of high and low, dry and wet
In the centuries-old polder area of Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide, iron-rich seepage water flows from the slope of Brabantse Wal, giving rise to rare plant growth.
At the foot of the Brabant Wall lies an old polder area on the transition from low clay grounds to high sandy grounds. Diking started here as early as the 12th century, with the aim of draining the low polder land. Many more floods followed and it was only at the end of the 17th century that the dikes won from the water and the polder landscape slowly took on its current shape. The transitions - between high and low, dry and wet, sand and clay - make it a unique landscape. Nice to know: there are still many medieval ditches here, surrounded by pollard willows and reeds.
MTB News from the park
MONA News from the park
Flora and fauna
Many seepage-rich areas in this area now serve as agricultural polders. Nature conservation organisations are trying to get ownership of these, with the aim of transforming them into seepage-rich nature polders with flower-rich grasslands and marshes. In that case, you will see water violet, water mint, hollyhock, yellow morning star, marsh marigold, large burnet and true cuckoo.
For many birds, the wet polders are a paradise. Here you can spot birds like bluethroat, skylark, reed warbler, stonechat, stonechat, shelduck, marsh harrier and partridge. In winter, you often find reed geese, barnacle geese and greylag geese here. In ditches and pools you might see the small newt scurrying away. And the lucky ones may even see roe deer here!