Utrechts Heuvelland

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There are national ambitions to significantly increase the amount of forest area, but it is not yet clear where these forests can be created and what they will look like. This study examines how new forests can be created on and around the Heuvelrug that will also help to relieve pressure on the Heuvelrug. The starting point of the spatial vision is to provide insight into how the planting of new forests or tree structures can contribute to the most important challenges facing the Heuvelrug.

The Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a moraine from the Pleistocene, is located in the centre of the Netherlands, surrounded by the river area, the Gelderse valley, the peat polders of the low-lying Netherlands and the Markermeer. The Heuvelrug has a long history of habitation and cultivation. Millennia ago, the Netherlands was a much more forested country than it is today, but during the Middle Ages, the Heuvelrug and surrounding areas were deforested to make way for pastures, esdorp villages and extensive heathlands. Only the estates and country houses had wooded areas. Reforestation took place at the end of the 19th century, with a monoculture of large plots of coniferous forest being planted on the high sandy soils. Today, the Utrechtse Heuvelrug is a popular recreational area and an important nature reserve. Due to these and historical developments, there are major challenges in the area.

Project details

Location
Utrechtse Heuvelrug
Locatie
Provincie Utrecht
Periode
2021
Status
Afgerond
In opdracht van
Provinciaal Adviseur Ruimtelijke Kwaliteit (PARK) Provincie Utrecht, Nationaal Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Gemeente Amersfoort
Prijzen
Shortlist van WLA Professional Awards 2022, categorie 'Concept - Analysis & Planning'

The challenges facing the Heuvelrug converge in and stem from excessive pressure on an area of woodland that is too small. The pressure from recreational users from surrounding towns is too great on the small area, and biodiversity suffers from the dense network of paths and the monoculture of coniferous forest. The latter also causes too much rainwater to evaporate, which, together with the drainage at the foot of the Heuvelrug, results in a forest area that is too small to provide the system with ridges and edges. The solutions to the limitations in the system lie in both expanding and improving the system. New forest, both on the peaks, flanks and foot of the Heuvelrug, can contribute to the challenges in various ways. For example, forests in the wetter edges can retain water and supply products in new ways. A thickened Heuvelrug can ensure the spread and zoning of recreational users and create a greater variety of habitats for flora and fauna.

Expanding the forest area of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug involves four spatial principles. The first concerns viewing the Heuvelrug as a system, including its ridge, flanks and edges. A good understanding of natural processes (e.g. groundwater flows) and human influence on them (e.g. agriculture and urbanisation). The second principle highlights the importance of the various components and areas within the system. The variation in the different areas is matched by the variation in forest types that must colour these areas. The third principle is to expand the forest area from the existing forest on the Heuvelrug. The fourth principle concerns better zoning of the Heuvelrug. The edges provide space for recreation and production, while the Heuvelrug itself offers peace and quiet to nature. Expanding the forest area on the Heuvelrug means a shift from forest area only on poor, dry sandy soils on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug to a diversity of conditions in the Utrecht Heuvelland. This will create a patchwork of new forest types, each productive in its local context.

To investigate the diversity of new forest types, six new forest types will be introduced. Trees and forests are versatile in the ways they provide products, structure and change the landscape, and increase biodiversity, which sometimes also involves the strategic omission or removal of forest.