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Nature

The past

The history of Zeeland begins at about 150,000 years ago. The oldest archaeological treasure stems from this period: a stone axe, which was found on Cadzand beach in Zeeland Flanders. This area is situated relatively high and was an attractive place of residence for that reason. In the east of Zeeland Flanders, many arrowheads were found, left behind from a more recent past. They are ‘just’ 11,000 years old. Because Zeeland was often flooded during this period, most people lived in high dune areas. The fact is, a large number of dunes dominated the coast around the beginning of our era. The area behind the dunes looked a little different than it does now. Between the dunes and the sand soils of Brabant was a peat area, split up by creeks. Three centuries after the birth of Christ, almost the entire Delta-area was flooded, and most people fled under the circumstances.

The first dikes

Flemish abbeys, which owned much of the territory of Zeeland, gave orders to impolder the present islands. Artisans also played an important part in the impoldering. Their job was to check and maintain the dikes, water ways and roads. From the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth century, a dike board was appointed on Walcheren by graven and artisans. In 1355 Middelburg was responsible for the building of dikes around the island of Walcheren. The income for this project was obtained by charging water dues (or lockage) and dike dues. These taxes were charged per gemet (approx. 0.4 hectare). A completely different method of building dikes was used then. Everything had to be built by hand, after all. The dikes were a treasure, because of the high costs involved. However, they were indispensable for the development of the Delta-area. If you look around today, you can still see evidence of the ongoing battle against the water. Examples are: twisting dikes, creeks, terps, and flooded grounds, such as the flooded land of Saeftinghe (‘Verdronken Land van Saefthinghe’).

Nature treasures

The resulting features from the battle against the water are truely unique. They are ‘nature treasures’ and not ‘natural treasures’, because they are not just consequences of natural processes, but also of a human influence that has lasted for centuries. The combination of salt and freshwater has played a very important factor for the nature development. In Zeeland, the fresh water of the Rhine, the Maas, and Scheldt is first mixed with salt water from the North Sea. For this reason many birds, mammals and plants survive in Zeeland, which can barely be found anywhere else in the world. These plants and animals can only survive on the fine balanced boundary between salty and freshwater. Many kinds can only survive in one constant environment. If the environment changes, certain species can disappear. These are so-called ‘critical’ species. Their presence or absence is an indicator for that particular ecosystem. The Zuyder zee crab, for instance, only occurs in the silt water of the Lake of Veere and the North Sea canal in the Netherlands. Sepias and snake stars live in the Oosterschelde, but not in the Grevelingen. Other types are less choosy and can be found in multiple environments. These are known as ‘tolerant’ species. Some examples of tolerant species are the bread sponge, beach crab, breakwater anemone and eel. Eels can live in fresh, salt and silt water.