The landscape of East and West Flanders along the Scheldt is our own creation, a result of centuries of land reclamation. The polders that arose form a unique habitat but has little protection, say Natuurpunt

At first glance, it’s not the most spectacular nature that Flanders has to offer: wide-open grasslands with a pool of water here and there. Most of these “polders” are in the hinterland of the coast and in the north of East Flanders. It’s manmade, wrested from the water over the course of history.

Originally, these were natural wetlands such as salt marshes, but our ancestors drained them and turned them into fertile agricultural land, ideal for cattle to graze on. Some polder grasslands date from the time the Romans were in charge here.

“That’s the first reason the polder grasslands are so valuable,” explains Krien Hansen, policy officer at nature organisation Natuurpunt. “It’s important heritage. The majority of soil has been used for hundreds of years in the same manner.

“But equally importantly, the coastal polder grasslands are a very rich ecosystem. They are unique because the influence of the salt water is still visible. In the past, clay and peat were dug up, which makes it a landscape with a lot of micro-relief, or tiny variations in the elevation of the land. Plants and birds that are found nowhere else live here.”