page_title: Gooi
section_title: Landscape and nature
hierarchical_section_title: Gooi / Landscape and nature
context_page_description: The Gooi is an area around Hilversum, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape, its historical charm, the wealth of its inhabitants, and its villas. Het Gooi is known in the Netherlands as the home of the rich and famous.
context_section_description: Het Gooi is centred on the northernmost point of a geological formation called the Utrecht Hill Ridge (Utrechtse Heuvelrug). The "hilliness" of this area is relative. It is considered hilly because the rest of the countryside is flat and below sea level. The highest point in Het Gooi is the Tafelberg (36.4 m above sea level), which is located halfway between Blaricum and Huizen.
  Originally the Gooi area was covered with woods and heath. It was at one time encircled by treacherous high and low fen areas (with peat bogs) that created a natural barrier and isolated it from the Utrecht area to the south. Today there is still a good amount of variation in the landscape in the Gooi area. The landscape is dominated by a dry, sandy ridge. To the east and west of the ridge there is flat wet low-lying pasture land. The changes in land elevation, and the transition from wet to dry, are important for many animals and plants. The bodies of water at the margins of the area are fed by water seeping through the sandy ridge.
  Some of the woods and heath have survived into the present today, notably Spanderswoud, Hilversumse Heide, Hoorneboegse Heide and Bussumer Heide. These areas are now all nature areas managed by the Gooi Nature Reserve Foundation. The vegetation in the area includes deciduous and coniferous woods, heath, grassland with sand pits, land developed as estates and the unique leftovers of open high ground and commons (engen en meenten). Some areas have been set aside for protection, including the Naardermeer (the oldest nature reserve in the Netherlands and the home of a unique colony of black cormorants (phalacrocorax nigra)) and the Gooi Nature Reserve (Goois Natuurreservaat). These areas are valuable buffers against encroaching urban development. A feature of the landscape in Het Gooi is the consistent encirclement of many heath areas with wooded margins, creating the illusion of an uninterrupted landscape and keeping the built-up areas out of sight. In the Netherlands this is rare.
  There is some concern about the motorways running through the area (the A1 and A27) because they cut through important nature areas. Near Hilversum the longest wildlife crossing overpass in the world has been constructed over the N524 and the Amsterdam-Hilversum railway line. Called the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailo (literally, the "Crailo Sand Quarry Nature Bridge"), the massive structure is over 800 meters long and spans not just the motorway and railway line, but also a business park, river and sports complex. Monitoring is currently under way to examine the effectiveness of this innovative project combining wildlife protection with urban development.
caption: "Heath at Laren", Anton Mauve, 1887
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