The Maasheggen
Welcome to the Maasheggen
This is the oldest cultivated landscape in the Netherlands. A journey through the Maasheggen is like a journey through time. Here, the woven hedgerows enclose fields and meadows, and the mosaic of hedgerows, meadows, ponds, and aged pollard trees offer sanctuary to an incredibly diverse range of flora and fauna. In this relatively small area, on the border between the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg, thousands of years of history have been compressed. There is no area in Europe where landscape, nature, culture, and economic activity have been so visibly intertwined, for such a long time, as here. Therefore, since the summer of 2018, the Maasheggen has been designated as a biosphere reserve within UNESCO’s ‘Man and the Biosphere’ (MAB) Programme.
The great story of the Maasheggen continues. Residents, local businesses and other stakeholders are working together toward further developing the area in a sustainable way. This has brought us to a new chapter. One that keeps true to its rich heritage, while moving forward to an ever-brighter future. Welcome to the Maasheggen.
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