Associated Regions

Grote Meers

Belgium, Flanders, Province of East Flanders, Aalst

Local Authority

Name: City of Aalst

Website: aalst.be

Contact information of site  coordinator:

Jens De Bruycker, Jens.Debruycker@aalst.be

Sister site: March floodplains in Austria/Slovakia

Site description

Grote meers is part of the Hogedonk nature reserve in the Dender valley, its wet meadows, old meanders and valley forests stretching out over 50 hectares. The mighty Dender flows like a blue thread through the area’s history and landscape. Grote Meers – to be spotted as a bowl-shaped depression in the landscape – used to be a floodplain connected to the Dender prior to the latter’s channelisation in the 18th century. Decoupling floodplains and meanders from the river has caused biodiversity losses and reduced natural dynamics, in turn exacerbated by extensive drainage and land-use intensification. Today, wetland habitats are under pressure of drying out, while acute flooding issues affect the entire valley. Restoring the wetlands’ function as water buffering “sponges” is needed to boost the services the Grote Meers ecosystem can provide to help make the region more resilient to the consequences of a changing climate.

Ecosystem

Grote Meers is characterised by key habitats 6430, 6510 and 91E0*, with reed beds, wet grasslands and willow and poplar forests. Species like Bluethroat, Reed and Marsh Warbler, Hobby and Stork breed in Grote Meers, and the Eurasian beaver has comfortably settled in its spacious lodge. Important plant species are Lesser spearwort, Goldilocks buttercup, Common water-plantain, True fox sedge, Tubular water-dropwort and Common spike-rush. 

Facts & Figures

18,7 ha impact area

414 plant species

91,000 people living in Aalst

46 Flemish Red List species present

Challenges

The largest challenge for wetland restoration is the fact that the March River forms the border between Austria and Slovakia. Area losses due to re-connection of meanders in one country have to be compensated by area gains in the other country. Thus, large scale restoration actions can only be implemented based on bilateral concepts and mutual agreements of the various stakeholders and decision makers in both countries.
Further challenges are:

ꕥ The protection status of present rare plant and animal species (no deterioration expected by the restoration)

ꕥ Invasive species

ꕥ The decreasing water levels during the last decade due to climate change and riverbed incision.
Associated region - Sweden

Location

Belgium, Flanders, Province of East Flanders, Aalst (50.990511, 4.055862) 

Size

Restoration efforts on: 4,2 ha

Affected area: 18,7 ha 

The uniqueness of Grote Meers has many layers: its hydrology, geology, history, biodiversity, variation in vegetation and proximity to people illustrate its intrinsic value. 

Existing projects

Grote Meers is part of the Scheldt Valley National Park 

ꕥ Larger-scale initiatives are taking shape under the Territorial Development Programme Dender, in which local and regional authorities and stakeholders join forces to improve the region’s water balance and climate resilience. Under this umbrella, the Strategic Plan Dender Valley has been developed. For the Lower Dender Valley, the province, the different municipalities have set up a collaboration agreement to develop a master plan to put the Strategic Plan into practice, including an ecohydrological study for i.a. the Hogedonk area. 

ꕥ The Hogedonk reserve has been selected as a priority for wetland restoration under Natuurpunt’s Wetland Plan 

Restore4life implementation plans

Building local and regional community support and interest by establishing a sheltered educational and recreational zone, which will be co-designed and co-created with residents and local stakeholders (participatory trajectory) to maximise functioning and support.  

ꕥ Hydrological restoration by reprofiling ditches and installing a weir (after a targeted preparatory ecohydrological study)  

ꕥ Creating suitable habitats for protected species that are already present in the area (pools, vegetation management) – this action is also supported by an improvement of abiotic conditions after hydrological restoration measures (2) 

Throughout the project, communication with local residents and stakeholders will be pursued to improve mutual connections and support (workshop, guided walk, information evenings…). 

Involvement of the community

The project area is an effective flood zone and two major residential areas adjacent to Grote Meers regularly suffer from flooding events. If ancillary rivers cannot overflow into the Dender channel, Hogedonk functions as a controlled flood zone. This means the local community has a troubled relationship with water. By setting up a participatory trajectory for the educational zone, we hope to attract residents and other interested people. This should have a double effect: (1) lowering the threshold for people to obtain information, (2) hearing concerns and wishes and incorporating these to develop an effective educational/recreational zone and ecohydrological restoration project. 

Expected Impact

 

The Restore4Life project is a stepping stone for a transformation towards a more climate-resilient Dender region, where Grote Meers is established and recognised as a climate buffer, with an improved connection to the local community.  

 

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