アールストの天然記念物・トップ20

ホレウェーゲン（Hollow ways）は、レモン質の土壌を持つ丘陵地帯に見られる典型的な小さな景観要素です。ほとんどのホレウェーゲンは、中世にまでさかのぼると考えられています。同じ道を何世紀にもわたって徒歩または馬車で利用した結果、自然な浸食プロセスが生じました。したがって、ホレウェーゲンは歴史の一部を運び、私たちの文化遺産の一部を形成しています。 （現地の案内板）

ネイヘムボスでは、自然はほぼ自発的に進化することができます。木々は古くなり、枯れ木がたくさんあります。枝が落ちる危険があるため、小道にとどまることが重要です。豊かな植物相が存在します。より酸性の土壌では、特にワラビ、スズラン、そしてダンクルトが見られます。より粘土質の土壌では、春にはヒヤシンス、アネモネ、ワイルドガーリック、そしてイエロースカルトを鑑賞できます。森の保護区の西側、フリッツェンボスとしても知られる地域は、特にクロウメモドキ、ヨーロッパトネリコ、キンポウゲ、オオウマノアシガタ、クレソン、そして2種類のゴールデンアイなどの典型的な種を含むスプリングウッドで構成されています。 3つの計画された散歩道、すなわちディッケ・ブーケンワンドリング、ベフィンゲンワンドリング、そしてグローベンワンドリングに従って、自然の美しさを楽しんでください。 (エージェンシー・ナトゥール・エン・ボス)

For a beautiful nature walk on the border with Aaigem, Mere, Haatert and Heldergem

The Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) has a 30-hectare research center in Grimminge (Geraardsbergen), around the Helix, the Flemish Knowledge and Training Center for Nature and the Environment. The research center is not only a research site but also houses several collections of rare native tree and shrub species, which contribute to the conservation of genetic diversity. The research center houses several "populeta." A populetum is a collection of living poplars. The poplars in this populetum belong to the North American species Populus deltoides and Populus trichocarpa, and to the European black poplar (Populus nigra), forming a unique collection in Europe. These poplars were used in the INBO breeding program to create healthy trees with rapid growth, straight trunks, and excellent wood quality for the wood-processing industry. (INBO)

The Raspaillebos has five marked walks: Natural Gas Walk (7.7 km), Farmland Landscape (4 km), Raspaillebos Walk (3.7 km), Window on the Landscape (2.5 km), and Bosberg Walk (2 km). (Agency for Nature & Forests)

You're not allowed to simply gather wood in a forest, even if it's freely accessible. It's prohibited by law. A forest manager can allow this for their forest through an accessibility regulation. The ban aims to prevent the forest from being "emptied." Dead wood is crucial for a forest. Many organisms live on it and process it until it's completely gone. This includes large standing or lying trees, but also fine broken branches spread over a larger area. These contain many nutrients, such as carbon or minerals, which the soil can reabsorb and other trees can store. (Agency for Nature and Forests)

The triangular shape of Meldert's village square owes its origins to the Frankish settlement that existed there at the time: houses were built along the three legs of the triangle, with a meadow in the center where animals could be herded together. You can see upright sandstones as a reminder of the sandstone quarries once operated by Affligem Abbey. If you look closely, you can still find traces of fossils in them; this sandstone was actually formed from the sediment of a tropical sea that once flooded the land here. Source: https://toerismeaffligem.be/blikvangers/meldertdorp.html

In this square, you can see an upright sandstone. It stands here as a reminder of the sandstone quarries once operated by Affligem Abbey. If you look closely, you can still find traces of fossils in it; this sandstone was actually formed from the sediment of a tropical sea that once flooded the land here. Source: https://toerismeaffligem.be/blikvangers/meldertdorp.html