| Sonian Forest Dutch:Zoniënwoud French:Forêt de Soignes | |
|---|---|
 Autumn light in the Sonian Forest | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°46′N4°25′E / 50.767°N 4.417°E /50.767; 4.417 |
| Area | 4,421 hectares (10,920 acres) |
TheSonian Forest orSonian Wood (Dutch:Zoniënwoud,pronounced[ˈzoːnijə(ɱ)ʋʌut];French:Forêt de Soignes,pronounced[fɔ.ʁɛd(ə)swaɲ]) is a 4,421-hectare (10,920-acre) forest at the south-eastern edge ofBrussels, Belgium. It is connected to theBois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, an urban publicpark which enters the city up to 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from thecity centre.
The forest lies in theFlemish municipalities ofSint-Genesius-Rode,Hoeilaart,Overijse, andTervuren, in theBrussels-Capital Region municipalities ofUccle,Watermael-Boitsfort,Auderghem, andWoluwe-Saint-Pierre, and in theWalloon towns ofLa Hulpe andWaterloo. Thus, it stretches out over the threeBelgian Regions. It is maintained by Flanders (56%), Brussels (38%), and Wallonia (6%). There are some contiguous tracts of privately held forest and theKapucijnenbos, the "Capuchin Wood", which belongs to theRoyal Trust.
As of 2017, parts of the Sonian Forest have been inscribed as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site, the only Belgian component to the multinational inscription 'Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe', because of their undisturbed nature and testimony to the ecological processes governing forests in Europe since theLast Glacial Period.[1]
The forest is part of the scattered remains of the ancientSilva Carbonaria or Charcoal Forest. Originally, it was part of theForest of Ardennes, the Romans'Arduenna Silva. The first mention of the Sonian Forest (Soniaca Silva)[2] dates from the early Middle Ages. Then the forest south ofBrussels was crossed by the riverSenne/Zenne and extended as far asHainaut, covering most of the high ground between the Senne and theDyle/Dijl. The 9th-centuryvita ofSaint Foillan mentions "the forest, next to the abbey of Saint Gertrude, called the Sonesian".[3] In the Middle Ages, the forest extended over the southern part ofBrabant up to the walls of Brussels and is mentioned, under the name ofArdennes, inByron'sChilde Harold.[4] In the 16th century, it was still sevenleagues in circumference, and even at the time of theFrench Revolution, it was very extensive.
At the start of the 19th century, the area of the wood was still about 25,000 acres (100 km2), but due todeforestation, it diminished to its current 10,920 acres (44.2 km2). A major blow towards this 19th-century contraction was struck whenNapoleon ordered 22,000 oaks to be cut down to build theBoulogne flotilla intended for the invasion of England. KingWilliam I of the Netherlands continued to harvest the woods, and from 29,000 acres (120 km2) in 1820, the forest was reduced to 11,200 acres (45 km2) in 1830. Rights to a considerable portion of the forest in the neighbourhood ofWaterloo was assigned in 1815 to theDuke of Wellington, who was alsoPrince of Waterloo in theDutch nobility, and received the equivalent of about $140,000 today from his Belgian properties.[5] This portion of the forest was only converted into farms in the time of the second duke. TheBois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos (456 acres or 185 hectares) on the outskirts of Brussels was formed out of the forest in 1861. In 1911, the forest still stretched toTervuren,Groenendaal, andArgenteuil close toMont-Saint-Jean and Waterloo.[6]
Formerly, the forest heldSaint Foillan Abbey not far fromNivelles.[7] The forest served for a long period as an exclusive hunting ground for the nobility, but today is open to the general public.
The Sonian Forest consists mainly ofEuropean beeches andoaks. Several trees are more than 200 years old, dating from the Austrian period.[citation needed]
The forest contains a somewhat reduced fauna and flora. Due to human influence (encroachment from all sides of the outer edges as well as the long-established thoroughfare roads and highways cutting deep through the forest) and impoverishment of the ecosystem, various plants and animals have become extinct. The forest was home to 46 different mammal species. Of these, seven have disappeared altogether: thebrown bear (around 1000), thewolf (around 1810), thehazel dormouse (around 1842), thered deer, thebadger and thehare.Stag beetles have also disappeared from the forest.[8] Theboar was thought to have been extinct since 1957, but in 2007, new specimens were discovered roaming the wood.[9] According to the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forest (ANB), this is unlikely to be a natural spread, but probably two to four animals that most likely were either released or escaped from captivity.
The many species ofbat in the forest led to it being classified as aNatura 2000 protected site.[10] This includes five endangered species: themouse-eared bat,Geoffroy's bat, thebarbastelle bat, thepond bat andBechstein's bat. Other animal species found in the forest, including theblack woodpecker and thegreat crested newt, are considered endangered and are protected by theEuropean Habitats Directive.[8]
In 2016, the Sonian Forest joined the "European Rewilding Network", an initiative of theRewilding Europe organisation.[11] The project aims to enable the growth in numbers of natural fauna such asroe deer and wild boar. Various types ofwildlife crossings have been or are due to be constructed to reconnect the areas of the forest that are currently divided by large roads. A 60-metre-wide (200 ft) wildlife crossing ('Ecoduct') has been built across theBrussels Ring (R0);[12] construction started in 2016[13] and it was opened in June 2018.[14]
The edge of the Soignes forest is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings initiated by the Friends of the Soignes forest against real estate projects threatening this natural heritage.[15]
.jpg)
.jpg)
Amongst the contemplative monks and nuns who lived and prayed in the forest, the most notable wasJohn of Ruysbroeck who established a Monastery near Groenendaal at Vauvert. At this time, the forest also held a house ofCistercian nuns at Pennebeek (founded 1201 on land given byDuke Henry I of Brabant to Sister Gisle); a convent ofBenedictine nuns at Forest (founded in 1107 by Gilbert de Gand) and a cloister ofDominican sisters at Val Duchesne (founded 1262 the Duchess Aleyde).[18]
The forest features is several works of literature including:
The Forest of Soignes lay behind the Anglo-allied army of theDuke of Wellington at theBattle of Waterloo. From Roman times, it had generally been seen as a tactical blunder to position troops for battle in front of woodland because it hampers their ability to retreat.Napoleon inMémoires pour servir à l'histoire de France en 1815, avec le plan de la bataille de Mont-Saint-Jean repeatedly criticised the Duke of Wellington's choice of battle field because of the forest to his rear.
On page 124, Bonaparte wrote, "He had in his rear the denies of the forest of Soignes, so that, if beaten, retreat was impossible", and on page 158 — "The enemy must have seen with affright how many difficulties the field of battle he had chosen was about to throw in the way of his retreat", and again on page 207 — "The position ofMont-Saint-Jean was ill-chosen. The first requisite of a field of battle, is, to have nodefiles in its rear. The injudicious choice of his field of battle, rendered all retreat impossible."[25][26] However, Napoleon's view was contradicted byJomini, who pointed out that Wellington had good roads behind his centre and each wing which would have made a retreat through the forest safer than across an open field:[27] Napoleon's cavalry would have been hampered by the forest in their attempts to turn any retreat into a rout. Some have argued that there was no bottom to the forest and it would not have hampered an extraction given Wellington's superlative expertise in handling an army disengaging from the enemy,[28] while others have suggested that Wellington if pressed intended to retreat eastwards towards Blücher's Prussian army so the interior of the wood was of little military significance.[29]
_2011.jpg)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Soignies".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 345.
