Agency joins appeal against university’s deforestation plans

Flemish nature preservation agency Natuur en Bos has joined a group of local residents, students and faculty members to oppose plans by Belgium’s Ghent University (UGent) to cut down a 4,000 square metre forest, writes Lauren Walker for The Brussels Times.

UGent was recently given a permit for the controversial project, which will see the university cut down the De Sterre forest in Ghent – an area the size of a small football pitch – to build a student residence containing 212 rooms, despite the agency’s negative advice against it.

Rik Van de Walle, UGent’s rector, said the shortage of affordable rooms in the city is the main reason for cutting down the forest, as the shortage of rooms is putting pressure on the housing market in Ghent. He added that the university “wants to contribute to solving this pressing problem”.
Full report on The Brussels Times site