In the 11th century, entire villages in the Veluwe threatened to disappear in the sand. Measures to settle the sand were not successful until the early 1900s when the Dutch Forestry Commission started planting Scots pine.

Sand drifts occur as a result of human activities. Long ago, the sand we see today was covered with trees and tread upon by the earliest inhabitants of the Veluwe. The forests were chopped down and turned into grazing lands for cattle. Overcropping turned the land into heath, and intensive cutting subsequently turned it into sandy desert. Now the wind has free run of the place, and the drifting sand is a continuously changing landscape with a fascinating abundance of plants and animals.

The largest living drifting sand: Kootwijkerzand
Around the turn of the century (from the 19th to the 20th), the countryside around the village of Kootwijk consisted of drifting sand. If it had been up to the locals, the entire Kootwijkerzand would have been turned into forest. However, the Dutch Forestry Commission had other ideas.
Part of the immense drifting sand area was designated as a State Nature Preserve in the nick of time. It's a good thing, too; after all, it is the largest living drifting sand, or the largest desert, in West-Europe. Yes, here in one of the smallest European countries.

What you see is unique: a series of wind-shaped sand dunes. You are free to walk and stand where you like. Climb the high observation tower and choose which direction you want to walk across the sand.
Be careful around the moss, though; it does not fare well around shoes that have soles with a tread. Visit in springtime, burn your feet on a hot summer's day, enjoy the low rising sun in autumn, and marvel at the frost coating the sand in wintertime.
The silence is what you are bound to notice more than anything else; your breath, your heartbeat, and the sound of the wind-that is all that you hear. You are one with nature.

Other drifting sands
There are four other drifting sand landscapes to admire in the Veluwe. For example, the Wekeromsezand with its herd of mouflons. Several years ago, 60 hectares of living drifting sand was restored in the National Park De Hoge Veluwe. And in the northern part of the Veluwe there are yet two more drifting sand areas: Hulshorsterzand and Beekhuizerzand near Harderwijk.