Integrated environment permit to change small landscape elements or vegetation

Small landscape elements (SLE) (in Dutch)(opens in new window) (Kleine landschapselementen – KLE) include

• wood edges, thickets, hedges, field margin vegetation
• ditches, pools, cattle watering holes, watercourses, spring verges
• hollow roads, grafts, dyke
• trees, and standard orchards

Vegetation (in Dutch)(opens in new window) (Vegetaties) includes natural and semi-natural green matter such as

• fens, heaths, marshes, salt marshes, mud flats, dune vegetation
• grasslands
• deciduous forests, and woody plantations.

Prohibition of changes

The following landscape elements must not be changed:

• hollow roads
• grafts (strong bends in the relief of sloping ground; they are usually overgrown with trees or shrubs)
• and wells

The following vegetation must not be changed:

• historically permanent grasslands (and related micro-reliefs and ponds) that are located
  • in the green destination zones (green areas, park areas, buffer areas, forest areas) on the zoning plans and the zoning areas that are similar to those
  • in protected cultural-historical landscapes
  • in the Polder Complex and Het Zwin
  • protection areas on the map drawn up by the Government of Flanders
• fens and heaths
• marshes and wetlands
• and dune vegetation.

Derogations or exemptions from the prohibition

An exemption from this prohibition on changing small landscape elements or vegetation must be requested from the AVES provincial service of the Agency for Nature and Forests (ANB).

Need an integrated environment permit?

An integrated environment permit is mandatory to change small landscape elements and vegetation in

• green, park, buffer, forest, valley, and source areas
• agricultural areas of ecological importance and agricultural areas of special value
• nature development areas
• protected dune areas
• Birds and Habitats Directives areas
• and Ramsar water areas.

Note: An integrated environment permit is also mandatory to change small landscape elements in agricultural areas, agricultural areas of landscape importance, and areas within the Integrated Interrelation and Support Network (IVON).

Apply for the integrated environment permit via the online Environment and Spatial Planning Desk (‘Omgevingsloket’(opens in new window)). In some cases submission on paper (in Dutch)(opens in new window) is permitted as well.

One public enquiry and one consultation round are organised following the application.

Appeal against a decision

The provincial executive of the province is competent for appeals against decisions of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The Flemish public administration is competent for appeals against decisions of the provincial executive. The Environment and Spatial Planning Desk provides more information about the appeal procedure (in Dutch)(opens in new window) and the fees (dossier fee, cause list fee) you must pay to lodge an appeal.

The permit requirement does not apply

• to domestic plots (as defined in Article 2, 35° of the Nature Decree) of a licensed dwelling or industrial building (of an agricultural or livestock establishment) located within a radius of 100 metres around the building (this becomes 50 metres if it concerns a green zoning area)
• if the works are part of an approved management plan
• and if it concerns regular maintenance works. The Code of Good Nature Practice for changes to vegetation and small landscape elements specifies what is to be understood by ‘regular maintenance’. See Appendix 1 of Circular LNW/98/01.

• Decree of 21 October 1997 on nature conservation and the natural environment (the so-called Nature Decree)
• Government of Flanders Implementing Order of 23 July 1998 establishing further rules for the implementation of the Decree of 21 October 1997 on nature conservation and the natural environment (the so-called Vegetation Order)
• Circular LNW/98/01 of 10 November 1998 on general nature conservation measures and regarding the conditions for changing vegetation and small landscape elements (Belgian Official Gazette of 17 February 1999)