Donkse Laagten
Encyclopedia
The Donkse Laagten is a small Dutch
nature reserve of roughly two square kilometres in the Alblasserwaard
in the province of South Holland
. It is located between the towns Streefkerk to the northwest and Bleskensgraaf
to the south. The area is governed by the organization Staatsbosbeheer
. There is no public transportation to the Donkse Laagten, but it is open for recreational use.
The Donkse Laagten is mainly notable for three things:
During the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis, which spread to the Netherlands, the area was one of the nature reserves to be closed in order to prevent danger to humans.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
nature reserve of roughly two square kilometres in the Alblasserwaard
Alblasserwaard
The Alblasserwaard is a polder in the province South Holland in the Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, a village in the northwest of the Alblasserwaard.-History:...
in the province of South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
. It is located between the towns Streefkerk to the northwest and Bleskensgraaf
Bleskensgraaf
Bleskensgraaf is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Graafstroom, and lies about 10 km northeast of Dordrecht. It has an area of 1272 hectares. On the 1st of January 2009 Bleskensgraaf and Hofwegen had 2797 inhabitants in 936 residencesUntil 1855,...
to the south. The area is governed by the organization Staatsbosbeheer
Staatsbosbeheer
Staatsbosbeheer is a Dutch organization founded in 1899 to control and conserve Dutch nature reserves.Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250.000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public for recreational purposes, but restrictions often apply...
. There is no public transportation to the Donkse Laagten, but it is open for recreational use.
The Donkse Laagten is mainly notable for three things:
- It is a site of relative importance in bird conservation and protection. There are three duck decoys.
- It is one of the roughly 30 sites in the Netherlands where it is legal to camp in the wild, as authorized by Staatsbosbeheer.
- In 2002 and again in 2006 the area was in the national news for first sightings and later the capture of a Common Snapping Turtle, which is not native to the area and is considered somewhat dangerous.
During the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis, which spread to the Netherlands, the area was one of the nature reserves to be closed in order to prevent danger to humans.
External links
- Google Maps The Donkse Laagten are directly north to Bleskensgraaf and west to the Donksweg De bijtschildpad van de Donkse Laagten A collection of quoted news articles concerning the turtle incident.