Two Wildlife Estates sites honoured with Baillet Latour environmental awards
By Alec van Havre — Member, Wildlife Estates Steering Committee for Flanders
Lummen & Arendonk (Flanders), October 2025 — Landgoed Loye (Loye Estate) has won the 2025 Baillet Latour Award for the Environment, while Landgoed De Zeshonderd (De Zeshonderd Estate) received the Honourary Diploma and Encouragement Award. The awards, organised by Natuurmakers.Vlaanderen with the support of the Baillet Latour Fund, recognise exemplary private nature conservation in Belgium. The main award carries €20,000; the Encouragement Award €5,000.
Landgoed Loye (Lummen, Limburg)
In the Demer Valley between Lummen and Herk-de-Stad, the historic Loye estate spans 200+ hectares of parkland, avenues, woodlands, hay meadows, pastures, arable land, wooded edges and an extensive pond complex — all within Natura 2000. Cared for over centuries by the de Fabribeckers family, the estate shapes the character of this section of the Demer, much as it appeared on Count de Ferraris’ 1777 maps.
On behalf of Baillet Latour Fund chair Thomas Leysen, conservator Guy van Wassenhove presented the award to Edmond Jr. de Fabribeckers and Thérèse de Fabribeckers for outstanding, long-term stewardship that combines ecological ambition with viable rural enterprise. The jury, chaired by Jurgen Tack, Secretary-General of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and former chair of the Environment and Nature Council Flanders, praised the family’s inter-generational commitment and their personal—and even physical—efforts to maintain and enhance the estate.
A hallmark of Loye is its calcium-rich water management. Since the 1966 deepening of the Albert Canal, the estate has held rights to supply via the Jantebeek. An ingenious system of locks and canals regulates pond levels and feeds the castle moat (the castle stands on wooden piles), sustaining both heritage and habitat. Recent mapping by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) shows the area of Great Fen-sedge (Cladium mariscus) has doubled over the past decade — a major achievement given the species’ rarity in Flanders.
Loye’s management plan (types 2 & 3) targets high-value habitats (e.g., Atlantic acidophilous beech [9120], old oak on sandy soils [9190], alluvial forests [91E0], hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with charophytes [3140], buffered, species-rich waters [3150], Cladium mariscus [7210]) and prioritises species such as Middle spotted woodpecker, Little owl, Bittern, Pike, European tree frog, and a resident osprey pair.
Loye received the Wildlife Estates Label in 2018 and is part of the European WE network.
Landgoed De Zeshonderd (Arendonk, Antwerp)
Bordering the Landschap De Liereman nature reserve in the Noorderkempen, De Zeshonderd, owned by the van Puijenbroek family, is a mosaic landscape where agriculture and forestry have long underpinned the local economy. The estate features pools, fens, field woods, hedgerows, a coherent lane network, marshland, and significant areas under Natura 2000 and VEN designations.
The jury awarded the Honourary Diploma and Encouragement Award for the estate’s multifunctional management, including wildlife management and enforcement (notably the responsible control of the expanding wild boar population), extensive VLM management agreements (grasslands, buffer strips, wild fields, wooded edges), and a landscape-scale water network (ditches, canals, stream banks). A recent partnership to hydrologically isolate the Liereman depression by diverting a watercourse through the estate exemplifies its collaborative approach with neighbouring landowners and authorities. De Zeshonderd earned the Wildlife Estates Label in 2019.
About the Baillet Latour Award for the Environment
Belgium’s leading recognition for private nature conservation supports ecological planning and management on privately owned land. Organised by Natuurmakers.Vlaanderen, the award alternates between the Flemish/Brussels and Walloon/Brussels Regions.
- Winner: €20,000
- Encouragement Award (Honourary Mention): €5,000
Anyone may nominate a project. See past laureates via the Baillet Latour Fund website.
About Natuurmakers.Vlaanderen
Natuurmakers.Vlaanderen (formerly Stichting Behoud Natuur en Leefmilieu – Vlaanderen) informs, advises, and supports private landowners to deliver biodiversity results bottom-up, aligning ecological ambition with sound rural enterprise. The foundation promotes the European Wildlife Estates Label in Flanders and organises the Baillet Latour Award for the Environment and the Tree of the Year.
