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Broeken. On the drastic transformation of wetlands in the Pleistocene sandy regions of the Netherlands
For a long time, the higher parts of the Dutch landscape were by no means as dry as they are today. This is certainly true of the lower parts of the Pleistocene sandy landscapes in the north, east and south. Those lowlands include so-called ‘broeken’. Such areas are nowadays characterized by the openness of their landscape and very intensive agricultural use. But they only acquired these core characteristics relatively recently. Broeken have repeatedly and fundamentally changed in character in the past. For a long time, they were predominantly densely forested wetlands. Rapid deforestation, drainage and the appearance of parcellation were the most significant landscape changes. To illustrate this transformation, we zoom in on two areas: Ruurlose Broek (Gelderland province) and Geelbroek (Drenthe province). Dominant drivers of change are also briefly highlighted: population growth, urbanization, privatization and the rise of a market economy.