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Belgium Belgium forest

Bois de la Houssière

Christophe Gesché · CC BY 3.0

40% trees around it and 884 species recorded.

47Forestyas Score

Forest

  • trees within 3 km40%
  • wild within 10 km48%
  • species recorded884
  • Altitude169 m

The forest around

40% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 89%Grassland 6%Cropland 5%Trees 34%Grassland 27%Water 1%Cropland 33%Built-up 5%Trees 20%Grassland 27%Water 1%Bare ground 0%Cropland 46%Built-up 6%Trees 24%Grassland 21%Water 1%Cropland 46%Built-up 9%40%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km89%
  • 1–3 km34%
  • 3–6 km20%
  • 6–10 km24%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees34%
  • Grassland27%
  • Water1%
  • Cropland33%
  • Built-up5%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

884 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Himalayan Balsam
Himalayan BalsamImpatiens glandulifera231 recordsGuptaele · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sweet Chestnut
Sweet ChestnutCastanea sativa195 recordsJLPC · CC BY-SA 3.0
Japanese Knotweed
Japanese KnotweedReynoutria japonica135 recordsW.carter · CC0
Yellow Archangel
Yellow ArchangelLamium galeobdolon128 recordsTeun Spaans · CC BY 2.5
False Acacia
False AcaciaRobinia pseudoacacia125 recordsThis Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder . Feel free to use my photos, but please mention · CC BY-SA 3.0
Garden vetch
Garden vetchVicia sativa117 recordsDidier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0
American bird cherry
American bird cherryPrunus serotina112 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dogwood
DogwoodCornus sanguinea96 recordsFrank Vincentz · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hedgerow Crane's-bill
Hedgerow Crane's-billGeranium pyrenaicum94 recordsKurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0
Narrow-leaved ragwort
Narrow-leaved ragwortSenecio inaequidens89 recordsPieter Pelser · CC BY 3.0
Northern Red Oak
Northern Red OakQuercus rubra88 recordsNicholas A. Tonelli from Northeast Pennsylvania, USA · CC BY 2.0
Erigeron canadensis
Erigeron canadensisErigeron canadensis87 recordsAndrey Zharkikh from Salt Lake City, USA · CC BY 2.0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

47out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 40%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 48%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 884Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 169 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in September.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan5°-1°70 mm
  2. Feb6°-1°63 mm
  3. Mar10°1°59 mm
  4. Apr14°4°42 mm
  5. May18°8°61 mm
  6. Jun21°11°65 mm
  7. Jul23°13°72 mm
  8. Aug22°13°78 mm
  9. Sep19°10°53 mm
  10. Oct15°7°62 mm
  11. Nov9°3°70 mm
  12. Dec5°0°79 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Bois de la Houssière.

Bois de la Houssière is a forest in Belgium.

Seen from space, 40% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 48% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

884 species have been recorded around it: 761 plants, 2 fungi, 114 birds and 7 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Himalayan Balsam, Sweet Chestnut and Japanese Knotweed.

The best time to walk is in September.

Braine-le-Comte, Belgium - panoramio (4)
Christophe Gesché · CC BY 3.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at CRL airport (Charleroi)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Bois de la Houssière seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 21marked trails within 5 kmGRP 127 Tour du Brabant Wallon, De Bruxelles à Bon-Secours, Le Chemin de Saint-Feuillien and 18 more
  • 11picnic sites within 4 km
  • 37shelters and huts within 6 kmCabane d'observation du halage, Cabane d'observation du contre-halage and 35 more
  • 4viewpoints within 5 kmPlan incliné de Ronquières and 3 more
  • 3visitor centres within 6 kmOffice du Tourisme de Braine-le-Comte, Commune d'Écaussinnes - Échevinat du tourisme, Syndicat d'Initiative et du Tourisme d'Ittre
  • 68car parks within 3 km
  • 4campsites within 10 kmCamping des Acacias, Aire du Plan Incliné de Ronquières, Camping de la Dîme and 1 more
  • 25places to stay within 10 kmLa Chapelle de Verre, Domaine de Combreuil, Les Grandes Tentes and 22 more
  • 5restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Bois de la Houssière.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas11 mountains within 25 km
Bruine Put120 m · 15 kmIJzeren Man112 m · 19 kmCongoberg21 kmTuitenberg24 kmMoerbekeheuvel24 kmBosberg105 m · 24 kmFlotsenberg102 m · 25 kmMont Panisel114 m · 25 km
Darkskyas3 dark-sky places within 30 km
Beersel Hills ObservatoryBortle 8 · 18 kmRoyal Observatory of BelgiumBortle 8 · 24 kmformer observatory of BrusselsBortle 9 · 29 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Braine-le-Comte, Belgium - panoramio (1)
Christophe Gesché · CC BY 3.0

Other forests nearby.

Bois de la Houssière

Belgium

  • 47Forestyas Score
  • 40%Trees
  • 48%Wild
  • 884Species

Sonian Forest

Belgium · 25 km

  • 76Forestyas Score
  • 80%Trees
  • 71%Wild
  • 1,917Species

See the guide

Forêt de Mormal

France · 56 km

  • 80Forestyas Score
  • 91%Trees
  • 76%Wild
  • 1,164Species

See the guide

Halle Forest

Belgium · 13 km

  • 61Forestyas Score
  • 60%Trees
  • 59%Wild
  • 1,163Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q692411) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species14,564 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Darkskyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here