Feral Housing
- Teun van Knegsel
- May 15
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 7
We should attempt to reconnect true nature, the so called 'wild' to the places we call home. To feel home inside nature while not trying to fully domesticate it is a great challenge. But the added value for the inhabitants (and of course all living beings on site) can be immense. George Monbiot argues in his book 'Feral' how important aspects of true wildness in our lives benefit our wellbeing.
As a Dutch citizen the term 'nature' becomes slightly more elusive than it might seem for other Nationalities with a less domesticated national environment. About 11% of the Netherlands is covered by forest. This seems very low compared to neighbouring countries (Germany 33%(3), Belgium 23%(2) and France 31%(1)), but what is more impressive is that the forest area in the Netherlands has recovered from a stunning 2% in the early 20th century.
Even so Dutch forests can hardly be considered 'wild'. There is a common Dutch phrase that states that every piece of dirt in the Netherlands has been touched by the Dutch (if not many times) at least once in our history. I will not defend the factuality of this statement, but the general feeling is hard to deny considering that more the 17% of the land area of the Netherlands is actually 'reclaimed' from what once sea.
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