Springing to life: bluebells carpet forest floor in central Belgium

(11 Apr 2024)
BELGIUM BLUEBELLS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 5:58
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Halle Forest, Halle, Belgium - 11 April 2024
1. Various views of the Halle Forest bluebell bloom
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Boonen, Haller Forest Forester:
“The forest was clear cut during the First World War. And then it was replanted in the years after the First World War. In between both wars which gave the forest a unique...they replanted with a lot of beech trees, which were all the same age because they were planted around the same periods after the war, which gives the forest a unique opportunity to have the bluebells grow. Because they need a certain amount of light, a certain amount of temperature. Not too hot, not too cold so I think that that gave the bluebells, the opportunity to grow in such abundance here.”
3. Various views of the Halle Forest bluebell bloom
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Boonen, Halle Forest Forester:
“They're known as a traditional old forest plant. So, they were not planted here when the forest was replanted. They were in the soil and they just thrive because of the conditions that were ideal here.”
5. Various views of the Halle Forest bluebell bloom
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Boonen, Halle Forest Forester:
“Yeah, it's difficult to capture the beauty on camera. Certainly on a cell phone because the light has to hit the flowers in a certain way. The light has to be captured in a certain way by the camera. So if you, if you walk around and, like, it's all purple and, and you take a picture with your cell phone and you see it afterwards, it's like, it was not like this when I saw it.”
7. Various views of the Halle Forest bluebell bloom
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Boonen, Halle Forrest Forester:
“The last few years we had around, it's an estimation, but around 50 to 70,000 people visiting during the whole blooming period. So those numbers were about the same last year as the year before. Only the way they were spread during the period was different. So it all depends on the weather. When in the weekends, when the weather is fine, we can expect, up to 10,000 people on one day visiting. So you can imagine it's quite a lot for a forest this size.”
9. Walking view of the bluebell trail
STORYLINE:
LEADIN
A spectacular carpet of bluebells is covering a forest floor in central Belgium.
Halle Forest is famous for its April bluebell bloom and tens of thousands of visitors are expected over the coming weeks.
STORYLINE
A glorious vision of spring.
Halle Forest in central Belgium is carpeted with wild bluebells. Every April tens of thousands flower here adding a spectacular splash of colour to the greenery.
It's become an annual fixture that attracts thousands of visitors but according to a local forester, this marvel of nature wouldn't exist if it weren't for the actions of humans in the 20th century.
During the First World War, the forest was cut down to the ground, according to Halle Forest Forester, Thomas Boonen.
“They replanted with a lot of beech trees, which were all the same age because they were planted around the same periods after the war, which gives the forest a unique opportunity to have the bluebells grow," he says.
"They need a certain amount of light, a certain amount of temperature. Not too hot, not too cold so I think that that gave the bluebells, the opportunity to grow in such abundance here,” he adds.
It looks almost too good to be true, like something from a fairy tale but these sumptuous flowers are wild.
AP video shot by Mark Carlson
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[@maryannemckay5766]

So beautiful ❤❤❤❤❤