The Dunes
 

The Dunen National Park is located in a national park in the Northern Brabant province in the Netherlands is an area that is going to be the focal point of the upcoming weeks. The area rests on 4000 hectares and was deemed an official national park in 2002. The vegetation that makes up this area consists mainly of pine forestry and dry shrubbery, the area also consists of dry sand dunes and a vast stream valley zone of the zandleij. Seeing as this area is a national park, this area is protected by European Union regulations called the Natura 2000 with the goal of securing this vulnerable area. The map to the right (Figure 1 Area of study) depicts the area that will be studied in this project.

Dunes are typically very sandy with low levels of nutrients and vegetation in them so the little that is there requires a great amount of protection. The different types of vegetation that are present in these areas are classed and registered under “goal vegetation types” and standards are set by the EU in regard to the quality of these.

NatuurMonumenten (NM) are an organisation who specialize in managing this area. After some examining over an extended period of time, they noticed a decline in the quality of vegetation. This diminish could be a result of foreign contaminants such as nitrogen deposition. 

clients


avans provincie Noord-Brabant Natuurmonumenten RIVM
National Park the Loon and Drunen dunes
National Park the Loon and Drunen dunes