Week of the volunteers: monitoring flora and fauna
From 25 February to 5 March 2023, we celebrate volunteer week. In the Grenspark, more than 100 volunteers dedicate themselves to the maintenance of 6,000 hectares of natural beauty.
Ranging from maintaining the mountain bike trails, manning the fire tower, monitoring plants and animals, guiding hikes, checking the trails to supervising a youth camp. Each have their duties and are invaluable to the area. We would like to introduce you to some of our enthusiastic volunteers.
Monitoring flora and fauna
Hilde volunteers to monitor insects and plants, Wim monitors amphibians and Govard monitors plants in the Grenspark. With their rich knowledge of flora and fauna, they collect data on species occurring in the Grenspark. Together with the other volunteers monitoring (of plants, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians), we have been able to collect valuable information about flora and fauna in the area for years, so that managers can take appropriate measures to better protect the species. Thank you for your efforts!
Hilde Balbaert
How did you come to volunteer at the Grenspark?
"Years ago, I took the 'nature guide' course. That was very informative, fascinating and you met people with the same interest. I wanted to do something with the knowledge I had gained and so I became a guide for De Vroente and later for the Grenspark. I have already guided many classes and adults and I enjoy it every time. What I enjoy most is letting people experience nature and be amazed by it. I get a lot of satisfaction from that. To increase my knowledge, I took many courses over the years on different subjects such as mushrooms, plants, birds, butterflies, reading landscapes,..."
What do your duties as a volunteer entail?
"It didn't just stop at guides. Together with many volunteers, I also help to keep the heathland clean. Every two or three months we each clean a footpath. I clean 'walk caterpillar'. I also go out every year with other volunteers to monitor butterflies and plants. I learn an awful lot from that. I can assure you that naming grasses is not easy. During my walks, I sometimes come across the cattle that do the grazing of the heathland. Then I check if they are ok."
What was -until now- your best volunteer moment?
"I have already experienced many beautiful moments on the heath but the most beautiful is seeing the wonderment in children who do not have the chance to be in nature regularly. They enjoy it immensely. The heath gives me peace and inspiration and I love spending time there."
Wim de Haan
How did you come to volunteer at the Grenspark?
"I attended the cross-border guide course at the grenspark, and afterwards the participants were polled whether they were interested in volunteering at the grenspark. I then signed up to do amphibian research."
What do your duties as a volunteer entail?
"In a six-year cycle, the fens in the grenspark are monitored and, in consultation with the staff, we decide each year which fens are to be targeted that year. In spring, we then set out traps that we check after 1 and 2 days. We then also check the ponds for the presence of oak lumps. Later in the season, we come back again to hear if the natterjack toad is calling. All data are entered on the website www.waarnemingen.be."
What was -until now- your best volunteer moment?
"It's exciting every time to see if there are salamanders in the trap. Especially when we find the rare crested newt, it's a very nice moment."
Govard van Kalmthout
How did you come to volunteer at the Grenspark?
"I have been active in the Grenspark for a long time, in the 1990s I was once allowed to do vegetation research in the area with the permission of a private owner. Later, I volunteered at the Grenspark for plant monitoring. I live in Roosendaal, but because of my surname perhaps I have always felt connected to this heathland."
What do your duties as a volunteer entail?
"It involves surveying an area for attention species every year and recording the data."
What was -until now- your best volunteer moment?
"There are many, but the most beautiful is still the beginning of the new year, which for me then starts in April or May and the flora aims its flares at the sky. Or that you come to a place where the rarities all seem to have an appointment, so many together. That's where we kneel down! And then try to figure out why that is so anyway?"