![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Kalmthoutse_heide_%2528vanop_brandtoren%2529.jpg/640px-Kalmthoutse_heide_%2528vanop_brandtoren%2529.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Kalmthout Heath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kalmthout Heath (Dutch: Kalmthoutse Heide) is one of the oldest and largest nature reserves of Flanders,[1] bordering the Netherlands and part of the Dutch-Belgian cross-border park De Zoom – Kalmthoutse Heide.[2] It used to be part of a vastly larger European heath landscape. Its name stems from its location: the Belgian municipality Kalmthout.[1]
![View of the Kalmthout Heath from the top of its watchtower, on 11 September 2005.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Kalmthoutse_heide_%28vanop_brandtoren%29.jpg/640px-Kalmthoutse_heide_%28vanop_brandtoren%29.jpg)
![Marked and numbered sheep within a fenced area of the Kalmthout Heath, on 11 September 2016.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Marked_and_numbered_sheep_within_a_fenced_area_of_the_Kalmthout_Heath_%2811_September_2016%29.jpg/640px-Marked_and_numbered_sheep_within_a_fenced_area_of_the_Kalmthout_Heath_%2811_September_2016%29.jpg)
It has been protected as a landscape since 1941, and officially became a state reserve (Dutch: staatsreservaat) in 1964 due to a petition of over 100,000 signatures.[3]