News
Field trips bloom in spring
Spring is in the air. And so too are the field trips to forests and forest management projects.
Last week alone saw no less than three study excursions involving more than 200 students.
Arjen Buijs led 125 students on 23 February to the Marke Gorsselse Heide in Gorssel for the course FNP24806 People and Forest & Nature Conservation Policy. This area is one of the biggest nature conservation-oriented citizen collectives in The Netherlands. It covers 120 hectares of heather, forest and grasslands, including the biggest wet heather area in The Netherlands, host to many red-listed flora and fauna. This former military terrain was bought over by IJssellandshap Foundation and is now managed by the local community as a ‘marke’, an organisation form common in the Middle Ages in which local communities own and co-manage the land.
Veteran excursion coordinator and guide Jim van Laar led students to Maarsbergen on 22 February and to Baarn and Lage Vuursche on 23 February. The latter were for the courses FNP21306 Management of Forest and Nature Organisations.
During these excursions, students of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy saw for themselves first hand how the landscape is influenced by various management policies and different stake-holders.
In June, some 90 students will go on a 7-day excursion to Modrava.
Top photo shows students in the Marke Gorsselse Heide.