In Flanders, nature and landscape are under great pressure. Hence, in certain areas, changes to vegetations or small landscape elements are prohibited or require a permit. This involves an environmental permit for changing small landscape elements or an environmental permit for changing vegetations:
Public cible
- Burger
- Onderneming
- Organisatie
Conditions
Conditions
Small landscape elements (KLE) include:
- wood edges, thickets, hedges, field edge vegetation
- ditches, puddles, watercourses, springs
- verges, hollow paths, ditches, dykes
- trees, standard orchards
Vegetations are natural and semi-natural vegetation such as:
- fens, heaths, marshes, salt marshes, mud flats, dune vegetations
- grasslands
- deciduous forests, woody plantations.
Prohibited changes
These landscape elements may not be modified:
- hollow roads
- ditches (strong kinks in the relief of sloping ground; they are usually overgrown with trees or shrubs)
- springs.
These vegetations should not be modified:
- historically permanent grasslands (and associated micro-relief and pools), which are located
- in green zoning (green areas, park areas, buffer areas, forest areas) on zoning plans and zoning areas similar to those areas
- in protected cultural-historical landscape
- in the Polder Complex and Het Zwin conservation areas
- on the map drawn up by the Flemish Government.
- fens and heaths
- marshes and wetlands
- dune vegetation.
Derogation or exemption from the ban?
An exemption from this ban on changing small landscape elements or vegetations must be requested from the provincial service AVES of the Agency for Nature and Forest (ANB).
Environmental permit required?
An environmental permit is required for changing small landscape elements and veget ations into:
- green, park, buffer, forest, valley, and spring areas
- agricultural areas of ecological importance and agricultural areas of special value
- nature development areas
- protected dune areas
- Bird and habitat directive areas
- Ramsar wetlands.
Attention. An environmental permit is also required for the modification of small landscape elements in agricultural areas, scenically valuable agricultural areas and IVON areas.
Procedure
Procedure
You apply for the environmental permit via the online Environment Counter. In some cases, submission on paper is also allowed.
One public enquiry and one advisory round are then organised.
Appeal against a decision
The provincial deputation is competent for appeals against decisions of the municipal executive. The Flemish Government is competent for appeals against decisions of the deputation.
In the Omgevingsloket you will find more information about the appeal procedure and the costs (file tax, rolling charge) you have to pay when filing an appeal.
Exceptions
The permit requirement does not apply:
- on house plots (as defined in Nature Decree, article 2, 35°) of a licensed dwelling or farm building (of an agricultural or animal husbandry establishment) located within a radius of 100 metres around the building (this becomes 50 metres if it is a green zoning)
- if the works are part of an approved management plan
- if they are normal maintenance works. The 'Code of good nature practice for changes to vegetation and small landscape elements' defines what is meant by 'normal maintenance'. See Appendix 1 of Circular LNW/98/01 for this.
Legislation
- Decree of 21 October 1997 on nature conservation and the natural environment (known as the Nature Decree)
- Implementation Decree of the Flemish Government of 23 July 1998 establishing more detailed rules for the implementation of the Decree of 21 October 1997 on nature conservation and the natural environment (so-called Vegetation Decree)
- Circular LNW/98/01 on general measures on nature conservation and on the conditions for changing vegetation and small landscape elements, dated 10 November 1998 (B.S. 17 February 1999).