A quiet revolution is underway in Belgium's nature reserves. For wheelchair users, wet nature zones — marshes, peat bogs, reed beds and polder fields — have traditionally been unreachable because the ground is unstable and no adapted hard surface can be laid there. The solution nature managers use is the wheelchair-friendly boardwalk (also called a "raised walkway"): a wooden elevated path that runs over the wet ground, leaving the flora underneath undisturbed.
Traditionally, however, these boardwalks are too narrow, too steep and too uneven for wheelchairs. That is changing thanks to a new partnership between Wandelsport Vlaanderen vzw (the Flemish walking-sport federation) and Natuurpunt vzw (Flanders' main nature-conservation NGO) — with De Blankaart in Woumen (Diksmuide) as the first concrete project.
What is the project?
Wandelsport Vlaanderen recently announced an annual investment programme through which the walking-sport federation will structurally contribute to the construction of wheelchair-friendly boardwalks in Natuurpunt reserves.
The first project is De Blankaart in Woumen. Concretely:
- Location: Natuurpunt nature reserve De Blankaart, part of the IJzer valley nature area near Diksmuide (West Flanders)
- What is coming: a boardwalk that will open up a traditionally inaccessible marshland — reachable for wheelchairs and prams alike
- Timing: construction planned in the medium term (depending on fundraising)
- Financing: partly by Wandelsport Vlaanderen, complemented by donations from individual supporters
Tax benefit: donations from €40 upwards qualify for a tax certificate — because it runs through an accredited non-profit (Natuurpunt), you receive a 45% tax deduction on your gift.
Why this matters for wheelchair users
Boardwalks are the key to a category of nature that otherwise remains unreachable:
- Wetlands and polders: IJzer valley, Blankaart, Uitkerkse Polder, and other West-Flemish tidal nature
- High moorland: Hautes Fagnes / Hoge Venen — the limited adapted raised-walkway network there is a living demonstration of why more is needed (see our purple heather guide)
- Heath-marsh transitions: parts of the Kalmthoutse Heide, Kempen heathland
For wheelchair users and parents with prams, this is more than a physical passage — it is equal access to the same nature that other visitors can discover. That fundamentally changes the feel of an outing.
What Wandelsport Vlaanderen is doing is special
Most accessibility investments in Belgium come from government agencies (Tourism Flanders' A-labels, provinces) or from nature managers themselves. That a walking-sport federation — with a membership base of ordinary walkers — is structurally raising money for the accessibility of non-walkers is:
- In solidarity — people who can walk themselves support people for whom nature access is difficult
- Sustainable — on an annual basis, not a one-off project
- Multi-partner — Wandelsport Vlaanderen + Natuurpunt + individual donors + hopefully government co-financing
This is exactly the model we want to see scaled up in Belgium.
How you can help
If you find this project worthwhile, there are several ways to help:
- Make a donation directly via the Natuurpunt Blankaart project (ask for the specific project when applying). From €40 upwards you receive a tax certificate — that means 45% back at tax time.
- Become a member of Natuurpunt or Wandelsport Vlaanderen — general membership growth strengthens the funds available for projects like this.
- Share this news with people in your network who value wheelchair-friendly nature — the more supporters, the sooner the path will be in place.
What we at Drempelvrij.be will do
This initiative fits exactly with our mission: making adapted nature infrastructure visible and helping to build it. Concretely:
- We will follow this project closely — as soon as the boardwalk opens, a first-hand review + photos will follow
- We will expand our De Blankaart location page with "upcoming wheelchair-friendly boardwalk" and updates
- We are working on a broader boardwalks and raised walkways pillar to show which adapted raised walkways already exist in Belgium
- We keep Wandelsport Vlaanderen and Natuurpunt informed of our own community signals — which other nature reserves are calling out for similar investments
Related content
- De Blankaart Woumen — location page
- Boardwalks and raised walkways — theme pillar
- Purple heather in August — Hautes Fagnes raised-walkway context
- Walloon Ardennes walking routes — broader Belgian wetland context
Finally
For wheelchair users, every new boardwalk is a physical opening to nature that was previously only visible in photographs. The initiative by Wandelsport Vlaanderen + Natuurpunt is one of the most structural investments in adapted nature infrastructure we have seen in years — and the fact that a walking-sport federation is taking the initiative here makes it all the more remarkable.
De Blankaart is the first — if the project succeeds, more will follow. If you can contribute, financially or by sharing this news: this is one of the opportunities where every euro makes a direct difference for future visitors with a wheelchair or pram.
Do you know other nature reserves that are calling out for a wheelchair-friendly boardwalk? Let us know — we are building a list that we can submit to our partners as the next candidates.