National Park Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse

The national park extends over five municipalities, Chimay, Couvin, Froidchapelle, Momignies and Viroinval, across two provinces: Hainaut and Namur.^[5][6] It spans three distinct geological regions: the Fagne, the Calestienne and the Ardennes. This diverse geology has generated a landscape characterised by great variety and a multitude of different habitat types.^[7] The park includes three rivers: Eau Noire [fr], Eau Blanche [fr] and Viroin [fr].^[8] The area is heavily forested, and together with the adjacent Semois Valley National Park constitutes one of the largest consecutive forested areas of Western Europe.^[2] The varied landscape, and traditional methods of utilising the land, have created an area of rich biodiversity. Almost 90 percent of the fauna native to Wallonia can be found within the area of the national park.^[7] One of the main purposes of the establishment of the national park is to maintain this high level of biodiversity.^[7]

With the establishment of the national park, a large number of actions have been made or planned to sustain biodiversity. For example, areas of woodland have been given protected status and thus spared from logging, free-range sheep herding has been re-introduced, and rewilding efforts have been put in place along some of the waterways.^[8] Projects to encourage tourism in the area have also been initiated; in 2026, construction of five observation towers began in the national park.^[9]

• List of protected areas of Belgium