Posted on October 13, 2025
Minister for the Environment Jo Brouns has officially inaugurated the Ecovalley Zwarte Berg in Oudsbergen, Belgium. Over the past eighteen months, we have built this important ecological corridor beneath the N76, one of the main traffic arteries in the province Limburg. As a result, several nature reserves are now reconnected.
To reconnect nature reserves, we placed a section of the busy N76 road on pillars, allowing the landscape to run under the road. This provides a safe crossing for numerous animal species and improves traffic safety. The valley now spans an impressive 65 metres in width.
Minister for the environment Jo Brouns:
At this location, wildlife fences for road safety were already in place, but with the construction of the Ecovallei, the picture is now complete. Within a few years, the nature areas along the N76 will once again form one continuous reserve. A fine example of how important ecology is in Flanders.
A series of defragmentation measures
Together with the Waaltjesbos ecoduct in Lommel, which we also helped construct with Jan De Nul, and the Dilserbos ecoduct in Dilsen-Stokkem, the Ecovalley forms the final piece in a series of defragmentation measures included in the Flemish Action Programme for Ecological Defragmentation (VAPEO). The goal of this programme is to remove major obstacles for fauna and flora in Flanders’ dense network of regional and national roads.
A project commissioned by the Department of Environment in collaboration with the Agency for Nature and Forests and the Agency for Roads and Traffic, and carried out with the support of De Werkvennootschap.
