Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe

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Satellite photo of the Verdronken Land (2008), Hertogin Hedwigepolder at the bottom right
Topographic map (2015)

The Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe (Sunken Land of Saeftinghe) is an Atlantic salt marsh area on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium . Most of the area is in Zeeuws Vlaanderen on the Westerschelde . As an inlet of the North Sea , it carries salt water , which mixes with the fresh water of the Scheldt River to form brackish water. The 3550 hectare large Verdronken country is the largest salt marsh landscape in Europe . The area and the Westerschelde are protected as the Westerschelde & Saeftinghe nature reserve and part of the European Natura 2000 network .

history

The map of the Westerschelde from 1664 (left is north) shows the pierced dikes along the center of the picture on the right. Saeftinghe is below that. The locations of Casuwele and Sint Laureins are still recognizable. The polder stretched to Den Doel on the island of Niewen Doel, right center of the picture.
The Belgian south-eastern part of the area, map from 1775. The area became the Prosperpolder after 1846. The renaturation of its northernmost part as a compensation area for the extension of the port of Antwerp has started. The meadows along the Scheldt have been preserved.

Today's nature reserve has been regularly hit by floods since the 12th century . Under the administration of the Cistercian -Klöster Ter Doest and the Dunes was the region around Saefthinghe, the first to the kingdom of the Holy Roman belonged and the diocese of Utrecht shelter, drained from the 11th century. To rule Saefthinge included four villages: Saeftinghe itself, names, Sint Laureins and Casuwele and other hamlets . Around 1279, Margarete von Flandern , now the landlady, had a fort, the Saeftingher Slot , built in Saeftinghe , which was strategically located at the fork of the Scheldt and an arm of the Scheldt, the Honte . The castle served as a customs house where the ships to and from Antwerp had to pay tolls . For this purpose, a port was built nearby where ships could dock. The exact location of the fort is unknown today.

The area around Saefthinge was fertile polder land ; the people living there operated agriculture and extracted peat . With two floods, 1530 and 1570 , the area, which had previously been affected by several storm surges, was almost completely inundated. The dikes were partially restored, after the flood of 1530, for example, with the help of workers from Antwerp. Nevertheless, the water surface extended to Beveren , Verrebroek and Sint Gillis in Belgium. Saeftinghe and the church tower of Namen remained for the time being; the bells of names were taken down in 1664 and hung up again in the church tower in the nearby village of Graauw . During the Eighty Years War in 1584 Dutch troops ( Geusen ) pierced the remaining dykes for strategic reasons to prevent the cities of Ghent , Bruges and Antwerp from falling into Spanish hands. Saeftinghe sank into the water; the area around the place was "verdronken" ("drowned").

In the 17th century, areas began to be paved again , but this was only partially successful. In 1715 the polder vanished for good. The last newly cultivated area was the Hertogin Hedwigepolder in 1907 .

Remains of sunken houses and churches are washed ashore or found to this day. These finds are collected, examined and documented by the Stichting Cultureel Erfgoed Zeeland foundation , but no targeted searches or excavations are carried out.

Until the construction of the Delta Works (completed in 1997) there were several ports near Saeftinghe: In the Netherlands these were the five ports of Paal, Emmadorp and Baalhoek, the Hertogin Hedwigehaven and the Kruispolderhaven; on the Belgian side was the Prosperhaven. Only the port of Paal still exists, the others have disappeared through the dykes.

Protected position

In 1975 the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe received the official status of a natural monument . The Dutch state transferred the management of the area to the Het Zeeuwse Landschap Foundation . In the 1980s the area was in the list of Important Bird Areas of the International Council for Bird Preservation added. The area has been under the protection of the Ramsar Convention since July 18, 1995, together with the entire Westerschelde with an area of ​​195 km² .

In July 1998 the area was proposed together with the Westerschelde under the name "Westerschelde & Saeftinghe" as a site of Community importance and recognized as such in December 2004. As a nature reserve under national law, the area was recognized as a special conservation area (FFH area) in February 2010. The FFH area today has an area of ​​441 km², the nature reserve covers 437 km².

As early as March 2000, the area with an area of ​​437 km² was registered as a European bird sanctuary and thus part of the Natura 2000 network.

Legend

There is a legend about the creation of the "Sunken Land": According to this, the villagers of Saeftinghe were vain and haughty. One day a fisherman caught a mermaid and the Aquarius reclaimed his wife. The fisherman refused, whereupon the Aquarius pronounced a curse: "The land of Saefthinghe will perish, only its towers will remain", or also: "Names, names will pass, only his tower will continue." refers to the place.) Sometimes you can see white shapes in the fog in the area: These are supposed to be the ghosts of drowned people who wander on here.

geography

Priele in the Verdronken Land
The Speelmansgat, in the background the Belgian nuclear power plant Doel

The Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe forms the largest salt marsh area in Europe. The area extends from Baalhoek in the west to the Doel nuclear power plant in the east. The area is 3580 hectares and consists of silt and salt marshes with numerous creeks . The three largest salt marshes are Speelmansgat , IJskelder and Hondegat . In between there are some smaller meadows and benches such as the Spauwer , the Konijnenschor , de Noord and the Marlemontse plaat .

The difference between high tide and ebb is on average 4.80 meters at the highest point of the area, at spring tide the difference can be up to seven meters. The tide difference is the largest in the Netherlands.

Up until the 1950s there were plans to dike the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe with polders . For this purpose, the Rijksdam was built in the north of Emmadorp on the eastern edge of the area along the Schaar van Ouden Doel . Ultimately, the dike plan was not implemented. Also in the 1950s there were plans to build the so-called Baalhoek Canal past Baalhoek in order to shorten the route to Antwerp. These plans did not come to fruition either. In order to make the waterway suitable for large ships to Antwerp , the Westerschelde was dredged from 1997, which was not without effects on the nature reserve.

Erosion of the salt marshes on the edge of Saeftinghe on the Westerschelde

In 1965, the so-called Gasdam was built parallel to the sea dike at the Hertogin Hedwigepolder . This is a sand dam about five meters high, several dozen meters wide and about three kilometers long through which a series of pipes for gas, water and chemicals are led.

A narrow strip running from east to west between the sea dyke and the Gasdam - a total area of ​​more than 100 hectares in the southeast of the Verdronken Land - was only accessible to seawater through a narrow opening on the east side after the construction of the Gasdam. The builders of the Gasdam built a summer dike for the owner of the area so that the water could not penetrate. This created a small polder without official status, popularly known as Selenapoldertje . After a breakthrough during a violent storm on November 13, 1990, the quay was not repaired, but the land was acquired by the Stichting Landschapsbeheer Zeeland . The purchase was financed to a large extent from the legacy of judge BS Sieperda from Middelburg , whose hobby was bird watching , which is why the former polder was renamed Sieperdaschor in June 1993 . Intensive research into this unplanned depolishing revealed that many bird species had settled there.

Conflict over the Hertogin Hedwigepolder

The Hertogin Hedwigepolder (h), surrounded by the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe (v), the Scheldt (s) and the Prosperpolder (the adjacent green area). Part of the Prosperpolder (x) is also to be depolded and a new dike (s) to protect the rest. Other points on the map are: the Doel nuclear power plant (k), the Doelpolder (d), the radar towers (r), the border between the Netherlands and Belgium (g), Oude Doel (o) and the Prosperpolder farms (p) and Emmadorp (e)
Protest poster against depoledation

The area of ​​today's Hertogin Hedwigepolder , located south of the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe and the Sieperdaschor , had been diked since the 13th century until the dikes were pierced in 1584 and the area was flooded. From the 17th century onwards, new polders were gradually created, in 1907 the Hertogin Hedwigepolder was the last . The area of ​​the polder is 2.99 square kilometers on Dutch land, a small part is in Belgium and borders on the Prosperpolder , half of which belongs to the Netherlands and half to Belgium.

The polder was owned originally from the Eifel originating high noble family Arenberg , which had large landholdings in Western Europe. It was named after Hedwige de Ligne (1877–1938), the Belgian wife of Duke Engelbert-Maria von Arenberg , a grandson of Prosper Lodewijk van Arenberg , who gave the Prosperpolder its name . The streets in the polder bear the names of their children Engelbert, Erik and Lydia. After the First World War , the family's extensive possessions in France and Belgium were confiscated because Arenberg had taken part in the war on the German side. In 1932 the polder came into the possession of the great-grandfather of the later owner Gery De Cloedt.

In 2005 the Westerschelde Treaty was signed between the Netherlands and the Belgian region of Flanders . It agreed to deepen the shipping channel in the Westerschelde from six to 13 meters in order to make the port of Antwerp more accessible for large ships. The agreement stipulated that this encroachment on the Westerschelde ecosystem should be compensated by flooding the Hertogin Hedwigepolder as part of the Sigma Plan . "The result was a tug-of-war between the Netherlands and Belgium, between activists and politics, and between owners and the state." Changes in the positions of the Dutch government were also due to various changes of government. It was only after pressure from the EU in 2012 that the Dutch government declared its willingness to depold the Hedwigepolder and allow it to flood by the Westerschelde, after it had offered other areas in the vicinity of Vlissingen as compensation.

De Cloedt, who grew up in the mansion on the polder, fought for years against the threat of expropriation and depolishing of his land by the Dutch government. In early 2018, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that the planned flooding was legal; two actions by De Cloedt before the European Court of Human Rights were not accepted. He received 15 million euros in compensation, but sued the government for a higher sum.

Activists also protested against the flooding of the polder, such as the group Red Onze Polders (Save our polders) , which publicly set fire to their protest signs and banners on the polder on the occasion of the final decision to flood. The contracts and the following decisions were made without the participation of the residents of Zeeland , who were also not fully informed. The opponents of the flooding also fear that it will not prevent the waterway from becoming silted up in the long term and that further polders may therefore be available in the future.

18 tenants had to leave the pastures and fields, the owner had to leave his houses behind, which were dismantled and parts containing asbestos were removed; 917 trees alone had to be felled. The Flemish government agency De Vlaamse Waterweg nv will invest 32 million euros. She also oversees the work, which led to further resentment among the Dutch; Critics described this as the "de facto annexation" of the Netherlands by Belgium. For historical reasons, the Belgians, on the other hand, have the "trauma" that the Netherlands could close the Westerschelde for the passage of ships to Antwerp or threaten to do so in order to favor its own port in Rotterdam .

The first earthworks should begin in 2019, the breakthrough should be carried out in 2022. Together with an adjacent part of the Prosperpolder and the Sieperdaschor , a new tidal area with a total of 470 hectares is to be created and, together with the Verdronken Land, to form the Groot-Saeftinghe Grenspark . The excavated earth is to be used to fill a hill that will later be used as a lookout point. Gery De Cloedt's company is among the companies that are applying for the earthworks tendered across Europe.

Nature in the "Verdronken Land"

flora

70 percent of the area is covered with beach plants and reeds . The rest of the area consists of sandbars , ditches and creeks . The salt water from the North Sea and the fresh water from the Scheldt mix; the west side is salty than the east side. The further inland you go, the sweeter the water becomes. A flora has developed on the salty marshland that is typical of a brackish water environment. Species such as common spoonweed , beach aster , beach rush , milkweed , beach trident , salt grass and bay rush are common. Are less common celery , salt Hasenohr and Small centaury .

Birds

The Verdronken Land is an important area for breeding and migratory birds that live or pass through there. Among them are gray geese , marsh harriers , bearded tits , Bluethroat , water rail , sedge warbler , reed warbler , Savi's Warbler , Reed Buntings , grasshopper warblers and Tüpfelsumpfhühner . In winter numerous birds of prey such as the hen harrier live in the reeds .

The most common type of goose is the greylag goose. In the 1940s and 1950s, the geese migrated through the area, of which a maximum of 200 specimens remained. Since 1975 this number has increased steadily, from a maximum of 1,500 to 25,000 to 40,000 birds in the 1990s. The number continued to increase until 2000, and has since declined. These large numbers of geese attract birds of prey, including sea ​​eagles in winter . An average of 5000 to 7000 beach pipit overwinter here, mainly feeding on conical marsh snails ( Assiminea grayana ).

Fish and shellfish

Freshwater, saltwater and brackish water fish are found in Saeftinghe. Were observed among other flounders , Strandgrundeln , plaice , stickleback , mullet , herring , pipefish , eels and sea bass . Research has shown that saeftinghe serves as a breeding ground for flounders and mullets. In addition to the fish, shrimp and crabs are found as representatives of this epifauna .

Mammals

In 1990 a seal was sighted in the waters of Saeftinghe for the first time in 30 years . Since then, the Platen van Valkenisse , north of the Verdronken Land in the middle of the Westerschelde before Waarde , has become the most important resting place for seals in the eastern Scheldt. From there the seals go in search of food in the Saefthinghe creeks. Other mammals are migrant rats and muskrats , rabbits , hares and foxes , and sometimes polecats , deer and stoats .

insects

Saefthinghe is home to populations of thousands of salt silk bees ( Colletes halophilus ). This type of bee does not live in colonies, but solitary. It digs nests in the sandy soil and specializes in beach asters, which is why their habitat in Europe is now severely restricted. Epeolus tarsalis is a brood parasite of bees.

A rare European species that lives in the Verdronken Land is the digger wasp Mimumesa sibiricina , of which there are only a few isolated populations in Western Europe, of which this occurring here is the largest known. In addition, two species are of brakes in front ( haematopota bigoti and Hybomitra expollicata ).

  • Real spoonbill

  • Marsh harrier

  • Bluethroat

  • Sea aster

and display information about the image
Panoramic view of the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe (taken from a bird watching hut)

Visitor center

The visitor center of the nature reserve

The area is managed by the Het Zeeuwse Landschap Foundation . An area of ​​around 400 hectares in the area around Emmadorp and Paal is accessible to visitors. Most of the area is only open to guided groups to protect nature. Since 1997 there has been a visitor center in Emmadorp, from which excursions are organized. From 1997 to 2007 around 12,000 visitors took part in the excursions every year. Two hiking trails are laid out from the visitor center: the plank path ( planking route) and the Raue-Stiefel route (ruige laarzenroute) .

literature

  • A.Bourgonje: Overwintering oeverpiepers Anthus spinoletta littoralis in het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe Limosa . tape 67 , no. 3 . Amsterdam 1994, p. 117-118 .
  • M. Buise / G. Sponsorship: Saeftinghe, verdronken land . Drukkerij Duerinck bv, Kloosterzande 1996.
  • H. Castelijns et al .: Tien jaar Sieperdaschor. Een evaluatie van het voorkomen van vogels in een in 1990 uit cultuurland ontstaan ​​schor . Ed .: Vogelwerkgroep van Natuurbeschermingsvereniging de Steltkluut. 2000.
  • W. Castelijns / AP Wieland: Broedvogelonderzoek 2004 in het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe . Ed .: Natuurbeschermingsvereniging De Steltkluut, Terneuzen. Stichting Het Zeeuwse Landschap, Heinkenszand 2005.
  • Maria Karoline Elisabeth Gottschalk: De Vier Ambachten in het Land van Saaftinge in the Middeleeuwen . Van Gorcum, Assen 1984, ISBN 90-232-2039-0 .
  • MF Heath / MI Evans: Important Bird Areas in Europe: Priority sites for conservation . In: BirdLife International (Ed.): Birdlife Conservation Series No. 8 . Northern Europe. Cambridge, UK 2000, pp. 485-486 .
  • C. Jacobusse / M. Decleer: The Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe en de Westerschelde . Davidsfonds, Leuven 2003, ISBN 90-807995-1-3 .
  • R. Lensink et al .: Beheerplan Het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe 2009–2020 . Ed .: Het Zeeuws Landschap. Report Bureau Waardenburg 08-038.1, Culemborg 2008.

Web links

Commons : Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Hertogin Hedwigepolder  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe. In: historien.nl. October 28, 2016, accessed February 17, 2019 (Dutch).
  2. ^ Archaeological investigations. In: saeftinghe.eu. Retrieved March 5, 2019 .
  3. ^ Ramsar area with the ID 95358 in the WDPA database
  4. ↑ a b c d e Lensink u. a: Beheerplan .
  5. ↑ FFH area with the ID NL9803061 in the EUNIS database
    Nature reserve with the ID 555514190 in the EUNIS database
  6. ↑ Bird sanctuary with the ID NL9802026 in the EUNIS database
  7. ↑ De legende van Saeftinghe (1570) - Zeeuwse Verhalen van vroeger en nu. In: zeelandnet.nl. Retrieved March 8, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Jacobusse / DECLEER, Het Land van Verdronken Saeftinghe .
  9. ↑ Description of the area ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Baalhoek kanaal - Binnenvaart in Beeld. In: binnenvaartinbeeld.com. Retrieved March 9, 2019 (Dutch).
  11. ↑ M. Buise / Sponselee, Saeftinghe .
  12. ↑ Richard HM Eertman: Restoration of the Sieperda Tidal Marsh in the Scheldt Estuary. In: semanticscholar.org. 2002, accessed March 5, 2019 . (pdf)
  13. ↑ a b c d e Nieuws: De hertogin is dood, leve de hertogin. In: tijd.be. November 4, 2018, accessed March 7, 2019 (Dutch).
  14. ^ Bertrand Goujon: Les Arenberg. Presses Universitaires de France, 2017, ISBN 978-2-130-79016-7 , pp. 1917-IA14 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g Rachel de Meijer: Spandoeken gaan in brand, Hedwigepolder komt onder water. In: NOS . May 26, 2018, accessed March 7, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Belgium urges the Netherlands to deepen the Westerschelde. In: uni-muenster.de. September 2, 2009, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  17. ↑ The dispute over Hedwigepolder ended? In: vrt.be. April 14, 2012, accessed March 5, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Ontpoldering is utopia. In: - Katholiek Nieuwsblad. November 6, 2018, accessed March 8, 2019 (Dutch).
  19. ↑ Harmen van der Werf: Vlammend protest against ontpolderen Hedwigepolder. In: pzc.nl. September 10, 2013, accessed March 8, 2019 (Dutch).
  20. ↑ Sheila van Doorsselaer: Kaalslag in de Hertogin Hedwigepolder. In: pzc.nl. January 9, 2019, accessed March 7, 2019 (Dutch).
  21. ↑ Alois Berger: Dispute over the Scheldt. In: deutschlandfunk.de. October 9, 2009, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Hedwige-Prosperproject. In: Provincie Zeeland. Retrieved March 7, 2019 .
  23. ↑ A. Bourgonje: "Wintering Rippipper" 'Anthus spinoletta littoralis'' in the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe . In: Limosa . tape 67 , no. 3 , p. 117-118 .
  24. ↑ A. Cattrijsse: Het belang van het Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe voor de vis- en schaaldierfauna van de Westerschelde . In: Zeeuws Landschap . tape 9 , no. 2 , 1993, p. 22-25 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 21 ′ 13 ″  N , 4 ° 9 ′ 54 ″  E