Van Gogh National Park is a proposed national park of the Netherlands, established on 30 March 2021. The park aims to create a new type of national park where several natural areas are coexisting with metropolitan landscapes. The park is intended to promote cultural heritage, sustainability, and the local economy.
Situated in the province of North Brabant, the area houses more than 7,700 ha of contiguous rich and varied European protected nature, the Natura 2000 areas. Also, it is the second largest economy in the Netherlands with more than 1.5 million inhabitants.
It was named after painter Vincent van Gogh, who was born in North Brabant and who worked and lived in a number of locations within the park.
Today, a third of the world's population can no longer see the Milky Way. The night is indeed confronted with the rise of light pollution resulting from a generalization and a bad use of the public and private lighting.
The Dark Sky Reserve is a 3 km long area between Netersel and Westelbeers where you are invited to sit and lie down to watch the stars. It is the darkest spot we can find in the Van Gogh National Park in 2021. In Europe dark skies environments are scarce. Therefore the Dark Sky Reserve project aims to address and spread awareness on this issue within the Van Gogh National Park.
A Dark Sky Reserve can be seen as an unexplored playground, unknown from the majority. A night or a long evening in the Dark Sky Reserve is a real experience that can create new feelings and sensations. We are not used to walk through darkness in the middle of the night and nature or stay uncover. It should be a place where humans are not the center but where a form of contemplative leisure can be invented, discovered.
This proposal meets the Van Gogh National Park’s objectives to promote cultural heritage. For millennia, our ancestors experienced a dark night sky. Cultures around the world told stories about the constellations and used the stars as a calendar. Only for the past few generations have we been denied the chance to stand and look at the night sky filled with stars. Local communities near the Dark Sky Reserve will be more keen to identify the conditions of natural darkness as a valuable asset and rebond with this cultural heritage. It raises the profile and recognition of a place among residents of surrounding cities. We believe the Dark Sky Reserve will grow if the local communities are involved in the project.
From one evening visit to a night walk for the guests of the Camping Couwenberg situated in walking distance from the Dark Sky Reserve, this place will be a destination for enjoyment and learning by residents and tourist alike.
