I live in the Dutch province of Flevoland, which happens to be the world’s biggest manmade island.

The entire province is made up of reclaimed land that was has only existed for about the last 50 years or so. This makes everything here manmade, including the forests.

Pampushout, Almere, Flevoland

Pampushout, Almere, Flevoland

We have many large forests, but they differ from natural forests in one big way.

If you look at a natural forest, the trees grow wherever they please, but in Flevoland, the forests all have a distinctive geometric feel to them – much like a plantation, except that these trees are not meant for the lumber industry.

It does feel odd sometimes cycling through them on the many cycle paths snaking through them, but still make for pleasant scenery, especially since, being so flat, the Netherlands hasn’t got much else which you could call scenic.

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