Heathland on the Oudsberg Dune

Heathland vegetation.
After the Ice Age, temperatures rose and forest growth increased. People also reappeared in the landscape to hunt, cultivate fields and keep livestock. To achieve this, the new forests had to disappear little by little, resulting in a decline in soil richness. But the exhausted soil was an ideal development soil for heathland vegetation that thrives on poorly fertile sandy soil.
(duinenbanden.be)

Duinengordel is a unique natural core in the northeast of Limburg. This hilly and turbulent area of 3,000 hectares extends over Oudsbergen, Maaseik and Bree between Bosland and the Hoge Kempen National Park.

In the Middle Ages, the soil southwest of De Oudsberg became impoverished due to intensive extraction. As a result, only heather could survive. Local overgrazing of sheep again caused sand drift, which shaped the current dune landscape. And of course there is still room for heather. More at natuurenbos.be/natuurbanden/oudsberg