Food Forest & Horse Paradise | Winner International Award

Geert & Goele had the dream to one day quit their busy jobs and become sustainable farmers. They are both concerned about the environmental impact of conventional agriculture and have studied and visited various food forests for inspiration. Spurred on by the Covid pandemic, they accelerated their search for a plot and found one of 5 hectares with an old farm close to Antwerp. This was their chance to make their dream come true.

A food forest is a diverse, layered agroecosystem designed to mimic the structure and function of a natural forest. It may contain a variety of edible plants, trees, fruit trees, and shrubs. Plants are arranged in vertical layers to maximize productivity and biodiversity while minimizing the need for external inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.

Food forests can provide a diverse range of edible crops year-round, creating a sustainable and resilient food source.

The plot had always produced corn and grains in the conventional way, so in the first year cover crops were sown to help regenerate the soil. Meanwhile, together with the regenerative landscape experts at Commensalist, a holistic design was created with multiple layers to make the most of the sun.

Fast growing species were placed at the edges where the prevailing winds come in to help prevent erosion. Another focus was the layout, to make it attractive for visitors (especially schools) to walk around and learn more about the project and its many dimensions. Although almost all species are perennial, a special area was created to grow vegetables, sheltered by trees.

Tree species

The Zoersel food forest contains over 30 local and indigenous species, a mix of trees, fruit trees, flowers and shrubs. The goal of this food forest is to create a green space that helps increase biodiversity, attract pollinators and local fauna and at the same time promote food security. It will also be a space to strengthen community ties and create awareness about the importance of environmental care.

Collaboration with Life Terra

We worked together with Life Terra who supported the purchase of trees and shrubs and arranged volunteers during various planting activities. ClimatePartner and ING Belgium supported this through LifeTerra both financially and with manpower to make this important project possible.