The Dutch Sahara - panorama, Loonse en Drunense Duinen, Netherlands

Some opening shots of a small hike done late June in National Parc The Loonse en Drunense Duinen.

I'll use this opening to discuss the habitat itself, which is odd. The Netherlands in general has a sea climate, similar to the UK. This normally means wet and moderate weather, and the little nature we have generally reflects this climate.

Yet not here, quite the opposite. Here we are in the Sahara of the Netherlands, Europe's largest drift sand area.

It is a somewhat cynical habitat. These sandy dunes are a result of mankind's destruction: overgrazing and using the top soil for fuel and other purposes some centuries ago. With the top soil removed, the wind had free play to drift the sand into ever larger areas, a desertification proces.

And not in any subtle way, at its worst, it managed to burry an entire village.

This was ultimately stopped, in several ways (re-soiling, planting dense grass, etc), yet some dunes have been conserved, this being the largest. Ironically, these destroyed habitats have unique ecological value. Specialist species have moved in and evolved to survive in these poor conditions specifically.

We're not talking true desert species here, mostly plants, lichen and quite a few predatory insects.

Other than species value, the dunes also have recreational value, they're used a lot for fitness activities or just general hiking.

I picked a proper day to visit this "Atlantic desert", with a soaring 34C temperature.