De Meinweg National Park

In the heart of the province of Limburg lies a beautiful hilly landscape. The diversity of nature is particularly surprising in the national park "De Meinweg" east of Roermond. "De Meinweg" is characterized by a so-called terraced landscape. This means that there are three plateaus, the highest of which is 80 meters above sea level. The hilly landscape was largely formed by sediment deposited along the Rhine and Meuse over the centuries, but earthquakes have also played their part.

Various species of mammals can be found in this area, including wild boar, fox, polecat, stone marten, roe deer and stoat.
110 species of birds have been observed, including cranes on a regular basis, and at least 60 species of birds have bred in this area.
The Meinweg is very well-known for its large number of reptile and amphibian species. The reptiles in the area are: adder, smooth snake, sand lizard, viviparous lizard and slow worm. The more or less rare amphibians are pool frog, moor frog, garlic toad, natterjack toad, alpine newt, crested newt and palmate newt; the rarest species, the garlic toad, has declined considerably.

Between 1954 and 1962, the Beatrix State Mine was constructed in the area, after the completion of two shafts, all activities were discontinued. The area was designated a nature reserve in 1990 by the then Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. The area was in common ownership and use of the surrounding 14 villages. This communal character also gave the area its name: "mein" means communal. Part of the area was oak coppice forest. For the mining industry, many pine trees have been planted for support wood. Because of this and due to desiccation, the heath and the present raised bogs were increasingly displaced.