De Groote Peel is a National Park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 in the Peel

Peel

Peel or Peeling can refer to:* Peel , rind or skin-Places:* Peel Park * Peel Street Australia* Peel * Peel River * Peel Island, QueenslandCanada* Peel, New Brunswick...

, a region in the Southeast of the Netherlands

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...

 on the border between the provinces of Limburg

Limburg (Netherlands)

Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...

 and North Brabant

North Brabant

North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

. It has a size of 13,4 km² and preserves a peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

-bog that has remained partly untouched by peat cutting, which used to be extensive in the area.

It is one of the most bird-rich areas in Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

, with resident black-necked grebe

Black-necked Grebe

The Black-necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis, known in North America as the Eared Grebe, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It occurs on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.-Taxonomy:There are three subspecies:*P. n...

s and sometimes migrating common crane

Common Crane

The Common Crane , also known as the Eurasian Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes.It is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane at 100–130 cm long, with a 180–240 cm wingspan and a weight of 4.5–6 kg...

s in October/November. The terrain is varied with inaccessible peat swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s, lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s, heath land

Heath (habitat)

A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...

 and sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

ridges. The present swamp and some of the lakes were created by the cutting of peat.

There is a 3 km-long route guided by red poles with a tower that provides visitors with n overwhelming view on the wasteland. Those who do not want to follow the route but want to find their on way have to careful in these treacherous swamps. Source: Brabants Dagblad (Dutch)

History of the park

National Park De Groote Peel is one of the last, largely raised bogs that remains uncultivated. It has become the way it is because of the harvesting of peat from the bog in the past. De Groote Peel offers a varied landscape of inaccessible peat swamp, lakes, open moorland areas, plains and sand ridges with purple moor. The current landscape of the Groote Peel was created by the excavation of peat. This excavation created at some places created larger lakes in the marshy landscape. Around the mid 20th century ridges of trees were planted. The damp and quiet nature make the area attractive to birds. It is one of the richest bird areas in Western Europe. The area has a special vegetation of many rare species. The marshy area is accessible by the construction of "bat bridges" which lead the visitor over the vast swamp areas.