Crossing in a port area is risky for amphibians, but Natuurpunt came up with a solution for this: “Fifty-meter-long tunnel pressed under the road surface” (Beveren-Waas)

Various corridors have been constructed here and there in the past so that the natterjack toad can move around the port area safely. The many roads and train tracks make it a dangerous environment for the animal. However, the different pools were not all connected yet. That network is now completely complete. Because with three new tunnels and a demarcated road, the Haasop nature reserve is now also connected to the toad pools in the Steenlandpolder nature reserve.

The natterjack toad, what is it and why is it so important? No one can answer that crucial question better than Johan Baetens of Natuurpunt Waasland. He has been committed to the Antwerp Port More Naturally project for years, which aims to allow nature and the port to live together in a peaceful manner.

Protected species

The natterjack toad is a European protected species and was therefore also included in the species protection program of the Antwerp Harbor More Naturally project. “We try to offer the natterjack toad a sustainable living environment in the port,” says Johan Baetens of Natuurpunt Waasland.

This has already happened in recent years at the Haandorp roundabout, where an ecotunnel and a large pool have been built especially for the small amphibians. There are still several tunnels and roads for the natterjack toad through the Waaslandhaven that connect the fifty toad pools, but that network has been fragmented until now. “The tunnels and roads that have now been constructed form the missing link of the Waaslandhaven for the natterjack toad,” says Johan Baetens. “Fortunately, some engineers from Port of Antwerp-Bruges took care of the practical side of the matter, because that was certainly not easy.” (Read more below the photo)

Gert Belmans was the project leader to connect the Haasop and Steenlandpolder pools. “As you might expect, we had to cross a lot of road infrastructure for this,” says Belmans. “It already started near Haasop with a railway, a roadway and a cycle path. A little further to the east, straight through the reed field, you will come across the entrance and exit of the R2. We pushed a large tunnel through the embankment under the track, more than fifty meters long and with a diameter of two meters. That was by far the biggest technical challenge of the project. This tunnel can be used not only by the natterjack toad, but also by sheep, for example. The tunnels are connected by defined paths. We have provided a kind of plastic screen at the bottom of the fencing so that the natterjack toads are guided to the tunnel entrances.”

In the coming year, Natuurpunt will continue to monitor the natterjack toads in the Waasland harbor with the help of researchers from the UA, to see whether the efforts are worthwhile.