Sunrise in the cherry blossom park of the Amsterdamse Bos

Jeroen de Jongh about Sunrise in the cherry blossom park of the Amsterdamse Bos

The Bloesempark or Cherry Blossom Park is a park in the Dutch municipality of Amstelveen. The park contains 400 cherry trees of the species yoshinokers (Prunis yedoensi). Every year, sometime during the period from March to April, these trees are in bloom with pink and white blossoms. In 2000, the Japan Women's Club donated 400 cherry trees. These trees were planted in the Amsterdamse Bos and provided with nameplates. On 200 of the signs is a Dutch woman's name and on 200 others a Japanese woman's name.

The Amsterdamse Bos (originally: the 'Boschplan') is a forest constructed between 1934 and 1970 southwest of Amsterdam that lies between the Ringvaart (near Schiphol Airport) and Amstelveen. The Amsterdamse Bos measuring 935 hectares lies almost entirely in the municipality of Amstelveen (the border runs along and north of the Bosbaan). The municipality of Amsterdam is the owner and manager of the forest.

The Amsterdamse Bos annually about 6 million visitors. The Forest contains 137 km of footpaths, 51 km of bicycle paths, 16 km of bridle paths and 14 km of freeway plus 116 bridges. There are 150 species of trees, 200 species of birds and 700 species of beetles present. It is approximately 935 hectares in size. Of these, 420 hectares are forest, 215 hectares are grassland, 165 hectares are water, 70 hectares are riparian and the remaining 65 hectares are roads, sports fields et cetera.

De Poel is a pool that lies just west of the old village of Amstelveen and north of Bovenkerk, which also belongs to that municipality. The lake was created as a result of peat excavation in the 19th century. Unlike many other pools in the area such as the Bovenkerkerpolder, the Poel was never reclaimed. The lake, which borders the Amsterdamse Bos, is rather shallow in several places, but is used for water sports. Because of its location next to the Forest, the Poel is part of the ecological main structure of North Holland, the Green Axis.