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Enjoy the walk in spring, autumn and winter.

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I am attaching herewith the assessments which I have compiled in one document. This completes this part of the course.   I thoroughly enjoyed the course, learning a lot from other students, and discovering beautiful places. Thanks to all who commented and still will do so.  Good luck to all!

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Overall evaluation

I would like to invite you to evaluate my padlet(s) as per the following descriptions. I will be happy to evaluate yours.

1. Your BioArea needs some elaboration and enrichment.
2. Your BioArea is looking good.
3. Your BioArea is looking excellent!

For convenience's sake, I have added links to padlets 2 and 3 on this padlet 1. Thank you very much!

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Compare and evaluate
Thanks to all who have posted encouraging and appreciative comments on individual posts earlier. I would like to present herewith the required (max. 70-word) comparison.

Perusing padlets on this world trip, a continuum from minimalistic to profound content emerged offering in-depth learning possibilities.  I enjoyed the evidence of biological diversity in both aquatic and terrestrial environments illustrated by many in higher-scale BioAreas. I appreciated affinity with Nature testified by all and personal involvement by some. It was touching to experience the bond evoked by the climate change threat and to feel the BioAreaBuzz! Thanks all!
Below: River Dijle (left) bordering my BioArea (right).

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Threats to Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

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Beautiful Biodiverse Planet-Touched by nature

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Reintroduction of Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) into the Yellowstone National Park, Arkansas, U.S.A.

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Reintroduction of Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) into the Yellowstone National Park, Arkansas, U.S.A.

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It seems obvious that human impact on nature can be quite devastating. However, sometimes intelligent and well-funded human intervention can undo harm. The reintroduction of Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park, Arkansas, U.S.A., looks like an excellent illustration: it brought back balance in the ecological system which had been completely disturbed because "the increased elk population was overgrazing the deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood". Let's remain hopeful and become more and more aware of nature's laws: if humans do not mess too much any longer, this beautiful planet may yet not be lost entirely and many many species may still be saved.
Below: first filming (March 2018) of she-Wolf Named Naya in Flanders after age-long absence of Wolf in the region.

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Hechtel-Eksel -

Wolvin Naya heeft zich voor het eerst laten filmen in Bosland, het grootste bos van Vlaanderen nabij Hechtel-Eksel. "Het dier gedraagt zich voorbeeldig, dat kunnen we ook op deze beelden duidelijk zien", vertelt Marie-Laure Vanwanseele, woordvoerster van het Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos aan Het Nieuwsblad Online.

De wolvin vertoeft al enkele maanden in Limburg, in de buurt van het militair domein in Leopoldsburg. Tot nu toe had niemand haar kunnen spotten. Tot vandaag. Een wildcamera van het Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (ANB) is erin geslaagd om Naya afgelopen weekend te filmen tussen 4 en 5 uur in de buurt van Bosland, daar waar ze al sinds begin dit jaar af en toe wordt gespot.
Nachtelijke wandeling
De beelden zijn kort en relatief onduidelijk, omdat ze 's nachts gemaakt zijn. Toch is het Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos "zo goed als zeker" dat het om Naya gaat. De boswachter heeft samen met experten de beelden bekeken. Naast de locatie wordt gewezen op de kleine oren van de gefilmde wolf, de hoogbenigheid, de soepele looptred, de koptekening, de onopvallende staart en de timing van de waarneming om te concluderen dat het om Naya gaat.

"De exacte locatie willen we niet vrijgeven, want het is niet de bedoeling dat mensen nu massaal naar daar trekken om de wolvin te spotten. Het dier heeft rust nodig", zegt Vanwanseele. "Ook de eigenaar van het domein waar Naya gefilmd is, wil in alle rust de wolvin haar gang laten gaan." Er zijn ondertussen meerdere wildcamera's opgesteld in de hoop om Naya opnieuw te kunnen filmen.
Ongevaarlijk
Het dier komt dus wel degelijk in de buurt van mensen en bewoond gebied, maar dat doet ze voornamelijk 's nachts. "Haar gedrag is momenteel relatief voorbeeldig, en dat bewijst de video van onze wildcamera ook. We proberen de regio dan ook zo veel mogelijk gerust te stellen met informatie. Ook de regering is bezig met maatregelen te nemen: zij willen in deze unieke situatie de franchise van de verzekering doen dalen, zodat het eigen risicogehalte minder wordt als de wolvin toch schade maakt."

Foto: Landschap VZW

Foto: Landschap VZW

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Wolvin Naya voor de eerste keer gefilmd tijdens nachtelijke wandeling

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Hechtel-Eksel - Wolvin Naya heeft zich voor het eerst laten filmen in Bosland, het grootste bos van Vlaanderen nabij Hechtel-Eksel. "Het dier gedraagt zich voorbeeldig, dat kunnen we ook op deze beelden duidelijk zien", vertelt Marie-Laure Vanwanseele, woordvoerster van het Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos aan Het Nieuwsblad Online.

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Once upon a time... Chapter 1 of 7                                                 

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Once upon a time... Chapter 1 of 7                                                 

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Let me tell you a story about my ongoing project in my village, Rijmenam, Belgium. This story may turn into a fairy tale if my wish comes true. With some luck and perseverance, the project may become a small-scale illustration of what owners, local government and citizens may achieve on biodiversity enhancement in these dark days of climate change and decreasing biodiversity. `

Rijmenam is a small village in Flanders, the Northern part of Belgium, once part of The Nether Lands, the "Lower countries by the sea". Following the most recent Ice Age, the landscape was transformed into a sandy valley intersected by north-flowing rivers. The 18th century map below shows a meandering part of one of these rivers, the river Dijle, a freshwater tidal river in my village. Rijmenam is the last village along the course of the river Dijle where inward tide can be measured during high tide. At one point, the river Dijle constitutes the border between the estate of a local nobility family, Pouppez de Kettenis de Hollaeken, and the very village of Rijmenam.
Below:  de Ferraris-map dd.1772 depicting my BioArea before the cutoff.

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Fauna and Flora of the wider area
Historically, this river Dijle was rich with fish: Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri), G udgeon (Gobio gobio gobio), European sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and particularly Eel (Anguilla anguilla) and Pike (Esox lucius) were reported. Rijmenam being a rather poor village built on barren sandy soils not enabling much agriculture, fish constituted part of the basic food for the local population; fish was supplemented by small game such as Partridge (Perdix perdix), Phaesant (Phasianus colchicus, Hare (Lepus europaeus) and Rabit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) which were abundantly present. Seasonal flooding of the river Dijle for centuries gave rise to enriched soils in the alluvial plains enabling increased yield of Grasses (Poaceae spec.) for the livestock; on higher situated grounds in the village grains such as Wheat (Triticum spec.), Rye (Secale cereale), Barley (Hordeum vulgare), Oat (Avena sativa), Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) and Potato (Solanum tuberosum) were cultivated. The original vegetation on the sandy soils had consisted of Oak-Birch (Quercus-Betula) forests and anthropogenic heathlands. The sandy soils being fit for different species of Pines (Pinaceae) plantations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris),  Black pine (Pinus nigra), Weymouth pine (Pinus strobus) and Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) were gradually introduced in the 18th century as per the order of Empress Maria Theresia first, for the benefit of warmonging rulers (Napoleon!) afterwards and eventually for the Belgian coal mining industry.

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In 1856, one of the Rijmenam river Dijle meanders bordering the earlier mentioned nobility estate was straightened. The intrinsic value of rivers was considered subordinate to their economic value as transportation channels. The erstwhile meander was cut off the river Dijle and let to a village farming family. They consequently benefitted from a newly formed fish-rich pond which they ardently defended against other fish-hungry inhabitants of the village. However, bad luck struck depriving them from their cherished fresh fish supply when in the early 1950's a chemical leak from a nearby factory killed all the fish in the cut-off Dijle meander. As a result, the poisoned site was abandoned and forgotten by all...
Below: (undated) Cadastral map by P.C. Popp  (Atlas Cadastral de Belgique), Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Royal Belgian Library). Presumably end 19th century.

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... except by some citizens who started depositing waste, an example soon to be followed by many more, turning the site into a landfill, further killing both fauna and flora. It took years of protest from responsible citizens, to have municipality finally order closure of the landfill in 1972.
Below: Google-map dd. 27.02.2003 showing (to the left and the middle) the contours of the former river Dijle meander around the erstwhile hayland where afforestation took place meanwhile; (to the right and the middle) the course of the streamlet where it flows into my BioArea can be followed. Via this streamlet, chemical poisonous substances reached the area, killing fauna and flora.

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Slowly but surely, spontaneous regeneration took place in this alluvial Dijle plain section.  Being an "immigrant", and always on the look-out for Salix species, the striking presence of a beautiful Salix euxina and other Salix species such as Salix caprea, Salix viminalis and S alix hybrids at this spot drew my attention in 2016. I consequently started digging into the history of this outward corner of the village, unravelling its history described above. Having rescued during one of my visits to the site a Common Toad (Bufo bufo) (Gewone pad) from an empty plastic container amidst the waste, I knew I had to take action.
Below: Google-map dd. 2015 showing afforestation of my BioArea? Note the difference with above Google-map dd. 2003

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Finding the owners of this forsaken plot demanded detective's skills! When I finally located one descendant of the nobility family in France, I was glad to hear him admit on the phone that "Yes, we do have a property with a pond somewhere in Rijmenam, but we do not know where it is located!". Soon as we had the chance of meeting in Rijmenam, I happily showed them their property. To the family's surprise the "pond", i.e. the erstwhile meander, had completely vanished, partly due to the landfill, but also because of the dramatic dewatering which is a threat throughout Flanders, not to say Europe or even all the continents of this planet...
To cut a long story short: the owners agreed upon my suggestion that I contact Rijmenam municipality to appeal to their sense of responsibility and to consider recovery management (by means of f.i. landfill mining) of the plot. The owners in return agreed to donate the plot to the municipality on the sole condition that it be turned into a Salicetum/Park including a pond allowing for freshwater fauna and flora, named after their mother, Elisabeth Pouppez de Kettenis de Hollaeken, the last member of the nobility family to live at the castle estate.  For generations to come the faunistic and floral values of this former meander and alluvial plain would then be restored and the already present spontaneous and remarkable Salix taxa would be safeguarded. The fact that Salix species succeed in surviving on this contaminated plot may not be too surprising, since Salix species are popular in organized phytoremediation and decontamination projects. I would like to think of the spontaneous dispersal of Salix in this acid-struck environment as an illustration of the unique self-healing power of nature.
Below: one of the first pictures I took from the old, beautiful, rare Salix euxina in my BioArea.

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At present, a governmental service has been commissioned to examine the nature and impact of the earlier pollutions and the possible clean-up.
Please cross your fingers with me for a happy ending of this story and the actual restoration of the Salicetum/Park/Pond which would mean saving a unique historic site and turning a former landfill into a Hot Biodiversity Spot!