At the end of the 19th century, many hectares of forest were planted south of Bruges where heath once grew or small parcels of pasture lay. Similarly, when St. Andrew's Abbey was founded at the beginning of the 20th century, the buildings were surrounded by more than 50 hectares of forest. In that period, forest management had a rewarding economic goal and many coniferous trees were planted in the region with the aim of selling the wood, for example as props in the mine shafts.

When the abbey was occupied during the Second World War and was the headquarters of the German coastal defenses, the woods of Zevenkerken were felled, except for the outer rows of the large lane leading to the abbey. The wood was sawn as anti-tank piles along the coastline.

This explains why the forest is still a fairly young forest. Indeed, it was completely replanted between 1945 and 1950, still mainly with conifers and larch, Corsican spruce, Sylvester and Douglas fir. The management of forests - including private forests - is now being monitored by the government and it is strongly advised to gradually replace the conifers with native deciduous trees. The storms of recent decades and a disease in the Corsican spruce have accelerated this transformation process in the forest of Zevenkerken. Since 1985, deciduous trees such as beech and oak have been planted almost exclusively as the basic structure. In addition, a conscious choice has been made to gradually turn the whole into a mixed forest in which the various native tree species guarantee a healthy balance.

Source: abdijzevenkerken.be/bezoek/de-bossen

Translated by Google •

Erwin D.R

November 11, 2022

Sint-Andriesabdij Zevenkerken type and you will come to the site with all the info!

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Christine

May 16, 2023

very quiet

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Elevation 60 m

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Location: Brugge, Bruges, West Flanders, Flanders, Belgium

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