Grenspark Groot Saeftinghe

ongoing

Grenspark Groot Saeftinghe is a vast area across the border where large Zeeuws-Flemish and Wase polders come together with an estuarine natural center, including the drowned Land Van Saeftinghe and the port of Antwerp. The area is unique because of the combination of agriculture, nature and port. The sustainable development of this region is therefore one of the most complex processes in Flanders and the Netherlands. That was the reason for the start-up of the Grenspark Groot-Saeftinghe project that ran from 2016 to 2020. The focus was then on nature-, but also identity-oriented area development. Sustainable leisure activities in Grenspark Groot-Saeftinghe: a unique interplay of nature, port and agriculture The new (similar) project aims to make the region more attractive to tourists. To develop sustainable leisure activities in the border park, it focuses on some strategic investments and activities, linked to education and liveability (people), authentic and responsible nature and landscape experience (planet) and local entrepreneurship (profit). For example, the development of the ‘border park heart’ is used by means of three central reception gates and a connecting network is organised up to the ‘outside’ thanks to infrastructure facilities. Interventions such as the installation of picnic tables, seating and loungers, educational and experience elements, watchtowers, shelters, bird watching walls, signage and information boards strengthen the experience and work connecting. In this way, visitors are also better distributed, among other things to relieve the pressure on the surrounding nature and to discover different entrepreneurs in the area. The liability of the area is ensured by monitoring visitor flows and investigating the effect of these flows on the environment. In addition, the wishes of the residents (the ‘directholders’) are taken into account so that the right roads are chosen for the strengthening of the tourist-recreational offer and the landscape experience. This ensures peace in the nearby polder villages. The project aims – following on from the previous project – for a solid local anchorage so that the border park will continue to be propagated by the environment and entrepreneurs in the future.

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