Het Blak - Old Clay Pit

The Blak, an old clay pit and its surrounding heathland is a European protection area, a so-called Natura 2000 area. Heathland restoration is one of the most important goals. There is a bird watching wall next to the large clay pit so that you can spot water birds without startling them. Yellow sand was once extracted from the bird watching wall, creating a lower piece of heathland. The raised wall gives a clear picture of the podzol soil type, a poor gray cover sand soil on top of the yellow sand. The forest in the vicinity of the banks consists mainly of deciduous trees (birch, oak,...). A lot of work has been done in this nature reserve in recent years. During the works, a number of larger open spaces were created, some of which were allowed to spontaneously evolve into forest (with native tree species such as birch and pedunculate oak). The former forest is making way for heathland at 5 locations. In total it covers an area of 3.6 hectares.Source deblakheide.be/index.php/Omgeving