Fochteloer Veen
General Description
Fochteloërveen is a 3,100 ha peat bog area on the border of the provinces Drenthe and Friesland. Like all Dutch peat areas the quality of the habitats, especially of active raised bog, was impoverished severely during the last decades. In 1999 the hydrological conditions of the most species rich peat area of the peat bog were improved by an ingenious combination of dams. The project resulted in the active development of Sphagnum species and other characteristic peat bog species in this area. It was a great surprise that, starting in 2001, cranes were breeding in this area; the first breeding cranes in the Netherlands since the 18th century.
During the last years possibilities developed for further restoration of the peat bog area by acquiring agricultural land.
Fochteloer Veen
(Photo: Ralf Schulte/NABU)
Re-wetted peatland
(Photo: Ralf Schulte/NABU)
The project started in 2010 and was finished in 2012.