Forest restoration at Mariënwaerdt estate

Heerlijkheid Mariënwaerdt is a stunning family estate of over 900 hectares on the edge of the Dutch Betuwe village of Beesd.

Over the past few years, the estate has suffered the loss of many trees due to ash dieback disease. Mostly, these losses were caused by these forests being monocultures of ash trees. 

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and partners EY, ABN AMRO, Autel, Huawei, Heimstaden, Tulpenrallye, Land Life Company and many others, we are supporting the estate with their forest restoration efforts. To ensure that diseases like ash dieback won’t devastate an entire forest, a variety of native species is planted. This new biodiverse forest will be more resilient to both diseases and a changing climate while providing a habitat for other species of plants and animals to thrive in. 

Since we started the reforestation, we have observed some great outcomes from our plantings at Mariënwaerdt over the past years. 

Results show that the trees we planted in the period 2021-2023 had grown significantly and that there is an overall survival rate of approximately 90% for trees planted during the 2022-2023 season, and a 75% survival rate for trees planted during the 2021-2022 season. 

We are really excited to see these amazing results! Over the 2024-2025 planting season, many more trees will be planted, as we continue to restore this beautiful and important estate for future generations to enjoy.