Forest occupation ends with a handshake

Lappersfort protestors agree with owner to put pressure on government

The occupation of the Lappersfort forest just outside Bruges by green activists ended peacefully last week. But not, as you might expect, with the protestors being led away in handcuffs, as happens most often in such cases. Instead, both protestors and the owners of the land have agreed to put pressure on the Flemish government to find a way of keeping the woodland in its current state without splitting it up.

The Lappersfort forest shouldn't be there at all. It's actually an overgrown piece of industrial land owned by the French conglomerate Suez. But for the activists of the Groen Gordel Front (Green Belt Front) it's a much-needed lung for the city. When Suez said it wanted to develop the land, quite in keeping with the zoning regulations, front members moved in, took to the trees and determined to stop the development.

Only 2.3% of West Flanders is woodland, making it the poorest province of a poor region: Flanders is 10.8% woodland, well below the European average. About one-third of the whole, or 40,000 hectares, is zonevreemd: in other words, it grows on land intended for other purposes. The biggest threat is faced by woods on industrial or residential land, some 10,000 hectares. The rest is on agricultural land.

Farmers, under a scheme introduced recently by the Flemish government, can be compensated for the loss of land to woods. Now the aim seems to be to figure out something similar for cases like Lappersfort. Green Belt Front has invited new nature minister Joke Schauvliege for a visit to the wood later this month. Activists and Suez executives will call on planning minister Philippe Muyters in September. All parties expect a positive response from Flanders in time for Week of the Forest, which begins on 18 October.

www.weekvanhetbos.be

(August 11, 2024)