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Between beaches and dunes, head towards Zwin Parc Nature, pearl of the Belgian coast

2020-07-12T18:55:50.890Z


GUIDE - Are you spending a few days on the Belgian coast? Close to Knokke-Le-Zoute between Flanders and the Netherlands, stop at Zwin. This nature reserve reveals all the riches of the North Sea.


" With the North Sea as the last wasteland, and waves of dunes to stop the waves ...  " When Jacques Brel sang Le plat pays , it seems that his first words are for Zwin. The Zwin? It is this natural reserve of 770 hectares which borders the coast, on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. A landscape of dunes and marshes, polders and mud flats, where thousands of birds meet under the gray blue sky to enjoy a corner of unspoiled nature.

Bruges silted up

The Zwin invites you to stroll in all seasons. Flickr / VisitFlanders / Westtoer

The Zwin is a foreshore - a strip of coastal land that you walk on dry foot at low tide, before the waves break at high tide. The panorama therefore changes according to the hours, days and seasons. One has the impression that it has been like this since the world was world ... Well, no! Because the Zwin was once an arm of the sea which led to Bruges, about twenty kilometers further inland. The wealth of the Flemish city also dates from the time when its port activity was flourishing.

But little by little, during the 15th and 16th centuries, the Zwin became silted up, cutting Bruges from the sea and causing its decline. The old arm of the sea has thus become this piece of land subject to the rhythms of the tides. It is home to many biotopes. Beaches and dunes. Polders - those lands reclaimed from the sea, maintained by dikes, but which remain below water level. Then, above all, what is called here "the slikkes" and "the schorres". In Flemish dialect, slikke is mud. It is therefore the lower part of the foreshore, flooded twice a day and transformed into a mudflat. The salt marsh is the alluvium. The word designates the upper part, the salt meadows, which only taste seawater during heavy storms or exceptional tides.

Bird airport

The Zwin is an important nesting area for the avocet. Flickr / VisitFlanders Provincie West-Vlaanderen

These specific biotopes are home to flora and fauna that are worth a look. In summer, the plain of Zwin is dressed in the purple of sea lavender. In autumn, it is adorned with the salicornia red. Beyond the seagrass that clings to the dunes, we also come across the purslane obione, the Atlantic spergular, the maritime armory or the centaury.

In terms of wildlife, the entire food chain is present on the site. And that's what makes it rich. It starts in the mud flats, where the stagnant water shelters micro-organisms, small worms, gastropods, bivalves, crustaceans ... A menu of choice for other animals, foremost among them birds. Zwin likes to define itself as "the international airport of birds" . It is indeed an ornithological zone of first importance. 350 species of birds have been identified there, 200 are seen there each year, including a hundred nesting birds. If some migrants spend only a few hours at Zwin, enough time to regain their strength before continuing their long journey, some settle there to winter and reproduce.

Among these nesters, there are a number of waders very comfortable on wetlands, such as the little egret, the oystercatcher, the white spatula or the avocet. Without forgetting the stork, whose Zwin is home to the oldest colony in Belgium. But the reserve welcomes a multitude of other birds: seagulls, larks, terns, nightingales, turtledoves… Take out your binoculars!

Returning land to the sea

One of Zwin's important biotopes is mud flats. Flickr / VisitFlanders Provincie West-Vlaanderen

For more than two centuries, the Zwin lands were owned by a family from the region: the Lippens. The grandfather had been burgomaster of Ghent, the great-great-nephew is still burgomaster of Knokke, the very chic resort close to Zwin. In 1908, to better manage their land holdings, the Lippens created the Compagnie immobilière du Zoute. In the process, they decided to urbanize part of their land to found a small seaside town with Anglo-Norman style villas.

Very quickly, Knokke developed and became the most popular resort on the Belgian coast. Urbanization could have gone on endlessly if one of the Lippens had not put an end to it. In 1952, Léon Lippens decided to protect 150 hectares of his land, of which he made the very first natural reserve in Belgium: the Zwin. Since then, the Zwin has been bought by the public authorities and it has grown well. Major works took place between 2013 and 2019, notably to widen the plain. Because the silting that was fatal in Bruges continues. With the risk that the area stops being irrigated and ends up losing all ecological interest. After centuries of reclamation, we have therefore recently witnessed the start of reclamation, returning 120 hectares of agricultural land to the sea. A few months after the end of work, in these areas where the peasants had cultivated potatoes until the previous summer, we saw the appearance of samphire and small crabs ... Nature always takes its rights.

Read also: The Meuse by bike, a nice trip through Wallonia

What to do at Zwin?

Several huts offer observation posts. Provincie West-Vlaanderen

Climb the panoramic tower

Located on the roof of the brand new building that welcomes visitors, it offers a 360-degree view of the polders and the sea.

Visit the exhibition dedicated to migratory birds

Many of the Zwin's birds are migratory. They are among the 10 billion birds that cross the planet twice a year. How are they preparing for this trip? How do they find their way? How can they fly thousands of kilometers? Where are they calling? The expo answers all these questions. Designed interactively, it puts you in the shoes of a stork, a swallow or a robin to make you live the experience up close.

Follow the path of the huts

Located at the entrance of the park, this outdoor circuit (1 km) is punctuated by a dozen huts that offer a first approach to the Zwin, its fauna and flora. A feeding hut where there are many birds. A listening cabin to enjoy their song. A cabin perched to see a nest of storks from above. A freshwater laboratory, and another one of saltwater, where we discover under the microscope all life invisible to the naked eye ... A nature guide is posted in each cabin to provide you with all the explanations.

To walk

The park can be discovered during guided tours or by following the marked loops. Provincie West-Vlaanderen

Certain areas of the Zwin are open to walking. If you are going alone, follow one of the 2 signposted loops (2 km each) or take the marked trails. Most are pedestrian, but some are accessible to cyclists.

  • Our advice

If you want to think outside the box, go for a guided walk. Guided tours in French are organized every Saturday at 2 p.m., every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. They last 2 hours and cost 13 euros (by reservation). Don't forget your binoculars and your boots. Unless you prefer to test the barefoot trail…

Take a seat at the chic Zwin bistro

The Shelter offers regional, fresh and seasonal products. North Sea fish, Bruges cheese, Polderland ham ... In the afternoon, it's time for Brussels waffles and brown sugar pancakes. Sweet prices overall.

The Shelter, Graaf Leon Lippensdreef 8, 8300 Knokke-Heist, Belgium. Phone. : +32 475 83 96 72.

PRACTICAL NOTEBOOK

Zwin Nature Park, Graaf Léon Lippensdreef 8, 8300 Knokke.

The Zwin is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in July and August. The schedule then changes according to the seasons, but the Zwin remains accessible every weekend.

Access: 12 euros for adults, 5 euros for 6-17 year olds, free for children under 6.

Note that since the Covid-19 crisis, the National Security Council has required to reserve tickets. Zwin accepts a limited number of entrance tickets per half hour. 40 people are allowed to visit the park every 30 minutes.

Info: zwin.be/fr

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-07-12

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