Management
Administration
Since 1957 the Westhoek dunes are assigned as state nature reserve.
The Westhoek dunes are situated on the territory of De Panne.
The owner of the Westhoek state nature reserve is the Flemish
Province. The administrator of the Westhoek state nature reserve
is the Ministry of the Flemish Community. The administration is
divided into two departments: nature conservation & management
(Nature Department) and sea defence (Department Waterways &
Coast). There is a commission of recommendation of scientists.
They can only give advice that is not binding and they cannot
prohibit the approval of management plans. The terrain and nature
manager is Marc Leten. He is appointed by the Nature Department
of the Ministry of the Flemish Community.
Management plan
It took until 1996 for the first management plan to be written
for the Westhoek state nature reserve and it is currently being
carried out. It is based on the idea of integrated coastal zone
management and on the ecosystem approach. The latter states that
an inventory of the past and present conditions of the coastal
ecosystems (beaches, salt marshes, dunes, dune/polder transition
zones) is essential to develop ecologically sound nature management
and to allow sustainable use of coastal resources. The idea of
an integral coastal reserve states that within the protected area
all geo-morphological zonations of the coastal ecosystem are enclosed.
In the protected area natural values should be maintained, restored
or optimised by appropriate nature management. Other activities
such as recreation and coastal defence are still allowed but will
be restricted by ecological conditions.
Nature management
In Belgium a division can be made in four types of (dune) landscapes,
which act as a ‘goal’ for nature management. Type 1: dynamic
dune landscape, type 2: subdued dynamic dune landscape,
type 3: dune landscape with half-natural units and type
4: multifunctional dune landscape. The Westhoek state nature
reserve was appointed as an intermediary landscape type, between
a subdued dynamic dune landscape (2) and a dune landscape with
half-natural units (3).
Relict or habitat management will be pursued and large areas
with potentially suitable habitat will be reclaimed and extensive
grazing used. There are also several vegetation types and fauna
in the Westhoek dunes that are relicts for Flanders (see: Natural
values and importance of the Westhoek dunes) and need to be
preserved, but are dependent on nature technical corrections to
survive.
In the Westhoek state nature reserve there are two fenced areas
where grazers are present for the purpose of nature management.
The fences are to keep the animals away from other parts of the
dunes but also to keep the people out to avoid confrontations.
At several places sods are cut and reclamation of brushwood is
taking place.
Result
The management plan of 1996 is currently being executed. The execution
of the management plan means that the large landscape ecological
processes (major sand drift, natural evolution of the coast, spontaneous
afforestation, etc) will be left to function naturally, but technical
management measures (grazing, local fixation, reclamation of brushwood,
etc) are necessary to diminish the negative internal and external
influences like desiccation and extensive growth of brushwood.
The aim is to eventually come to process based management, but
where small corrections are still possible.
