Bridge in the park

by Frank Amez (Alstamarisphotography)

De Groene Long is a nature development park with a surface area of about 7 ha. The municipality of Kuurne bought all the parcels in the area. The area was originally intended as a residential expansion area, but because the municipality of Kuurne was already so densely built up, the town council opted to give nature a place in the centre of the municipality.

The aim was to find a balance between the ecological, recreational, educational and social functions of the area. This balance leads to a high experiential value and an attractive and varied whole where everyone can find something to his liking during his visit to the park, which is situated at walking distance from the centre.
The construction of the park was started in 1992 with the planting of a forest (approximately 1 ha). In 1997 and 1998 the grounds were further arranged with an orchard of standard fruit trees (with old varieties of apple, pear, cherry and plum), a bat box, an oak lane, rows of pollard willows, valuable standard trees, wooded borders, various stretches of water and marshland with plank paths and other bridges, a kingfisher wall, reed beds, a sunken path and characteristic entrance squares. The edges of the footpaths were sown once with wild flowers and there is also a field with various cereals, flax, potatoes and field herbs. A meadow is grazed by donkeys and in the orchard sheep graze in summer. An observation hut has been planted in the zone where nature gets the main function.