Zwin (in Flemish Het Zwin) is one of Belgium's most important natural reserves. It is a small basin enclosed in the coastal dunes and the polders protecting dams, in direct communication with the sea. It is the last piece of coastal swamp rest in Belgium. Being tidal to the tides in varying degrees depending on the astronomical and meteorological conditions it has a large variety of environments in a relatively small space (155 hectares). You go from the coastal lagoon (brackish waters) to the mud stretches (called slikken) to the salty meadow, which is formed by alofile plants. This wide variety of environments allows you to meet many species from very different habits. Being on some of the major migration routes is a center of great interest for observing limines, different kinds of geese and waders.
It is located in the municipality of Knokke-Heist, in Zout, and includes the extreme east fence of the Belgian coast, bordering the Netherlands.
The name Zwin refers to the windy watercourse that connected Bruges to the North Sea, a connection that opened in 1134 following a storm. It is no longer navigable since the sixteenth century, but being in a hot area of the border between the southern Netherlands and the Republic of the Seven Provinces Unite has never been reclaimed or commercially exploited. In the twentieth century, now off the frontier rivalry, there was a small airport that prevented the agricultural exploitation of the area. With the awakening of naturalistic consciousness in 1952, the mayor of Knokke-Heist, Count Léon Lippens, created the first natural reserve of Belgium. It currently hosts a center for the care and conservation of injured animals (especially birds), a repopulation center for storks (over 20 nurses occupied every year), some awareness raising initiatives. Other designers wikitesto
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