Herkenrodebossen

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Herkenrode woodlands were owned by the abbey of Herkenrode. At that time, the area largely consisted of one large woodland complex with meadows and hayfields with hedges and rows of trees at the edges. The Cistercian nuns sourced their timber there and grazed their livestock. The many drainage ditches and wooded edges are traces from this distant past. Meanwhile, many parts of the woodland have been converted into fields and meadows. Today, the landscape is a mosaic of woodlands and remnants of the old agricultural practices such as hayfields, hedges, wooded edges, pollarded trees, and ponds. This varied landscape, which developed undisturbed for centuries, forms the habitat for many animal and plant species.