In Nieuw Boekhorst in Voorhout, a new nature reserve has been established. On June 6, 2025, the Teylingen alderman Marlies Volten, the provincial executive of South Holland Berend Potjer, and director Yvonne van der Hulst of Van der Hulst Construction Company inaugurated the Ecological Triangle.

The Ecological Triangle is located along the Haarlemmertrekvaart and covers about 6 hectares. The new nature reserve has been created next to the site where the new construction of Nieuw Boekhorst will take place, for which the first phase is being prepared for construction. In the Triangle, plants and animals that have historically occurred here have found a new home. The nature zone along the water is part of the Nature Network Netherlands. The self-harvest garden Elsgeesterhof with the pavilion De Hooiberg is also located in the Triangle. Special guest at the opening was Lodewijk Hoekstra, the Netherlands most famous TV gardener, garden designer, and founder of NL Greenlabel.

Nature zone through the Bollenstreek

Provincial executive Berend Potjer is enthusiastic about the new nature reserve. “It is wonderful that the bank of the Haarlemmertrekvaart is now set up as nature. We are doing this in other places along the canal as well. Thus, we are slowly but surely building a nature zone of 15 kilometers long, across the Bollenstreek. Such banks contribute greatly to biodiversity. It is also great that we have been able to link this to other nature-friendly initiatives, such as the self-harvest garden Elsgeesterhof.”

Harvesting and ponds

Elsgeesterhof is a garden where participants can pick their own flowers and harvest vegetables. It is a place where everyone is welcome to enjoy the green oasis. The vegetables for the Social Cooking Neighborhood Process are grown here, and there are 5 school gardens.
In the rest of the Triangle, nature receives more rest. In the shallow ponds, fish can spawn. Dragonflies and amphibians also benefit from it. In the reeds along the bank, the bittern breeds. Butterflies, insects, and small mammals find shelter and food in the marsh vegetation and the flower-rich meadow. The Triangle has also been made attractive for the European tree frog. The entire Triangle is ecologically managed by the municipality of Teylingen.

Pavilion the Hooiberg

In the Ecological Triangle, Van der Hulst Construction Company has also realized the Hooiberg. This is a biobased, circular, and sustainable pavilion. Biobased means using renewable or natural materials. The Hooiberg will be a unique place, a home base for the self-harvest garden and its community. An incubator for social initiatives and a center for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Greenlabel

The sustainability of the future residential area Nieuw Boekhorst will be independently assessed using the NL Greenlabel system, to which Lodewijk Hoekstra is connected. The NL Area Label assesses the public space in Nieuw Boekhorst on a wide range of sustainability indicators, such as the handling and strengthening of biodiversity and the extent to which the neighborhood is climate-adaptive. First, the designs are assessed. After the construction of the neighborhood, it will be assessed again. The municipality and developers of Nieuw Boekhorst aim for an NL Area Label at level A, the highest achievable label for a healthy living environment.