Lauwersmeer National Park 3.79

Lauwersmeer National Park is a national park in the provinces of Friesland and Groningen in the Netherlands. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of the Lauwersmeer .GeographyIn the north of the Netherlands, the Lauwers river forms part of the east-west border between the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. The Lauwers flows from south to north into the Wadden Sea. The Lauwersmeer is its estuary, which is connected to the sea via a sluice at Lauwersoog. The national park consists of most of the Lauwersmeer and is situated in the Frisian municipalities of Dongeradeel and Kollumerland c.a. in Friesland and the Groningen municipality of De Marne.HistoryOn 25 May 1969, the Lauwers Sea was enclosed and separated from the Wadden Sea, since then it has been called Lauwersmeer.The Lauwersmeer gradually became a freshwater lake and new flora and fauna appeared. To protect this new and young nature area, the Lauwersmeer became a national park on 12 November 2003.