Access to the Hertogenwald state forest in Membach, Wallonia, has been prohibited by the Baelen mayor Nathalie Thönnissen to reduce the risk of fire.
The municipality announced the measure on social media.
The local authority said the ban is intended to prevent a fire from breaking out in the country’s largest state-owned forest.
Hertogenwald covers more than 12,000 hectares. Of that area, 415 hectares lie within Jalhay and 414 hectares within the municipality of Limbourg.
On its website, the municipality said the forest is closely linked to the High Fens, not only because it largely surrounds and borders the area’s nature reserves. It said the connection also stems from the historical planting of conifer trees at the expense of the marshlands that once covered the entire plateau.
