Dune landscape and view of De Slufter and the North Sea on Texel. One of the Dutch Wadden Islands. Watercolor on paper by Hans Sturris, painted in 1992.
Illustration from a series of watercolor paintings made on the island.
The Slufter is a unique area open to the North Sea. After several failed attempts to turn it into an agricultural polder, it was decided at the beginning of the 20th century to leave the sea channel open. The Slufter area consists of a creek system that is sometimes flooded after a storm. You will find salt-tolerant plants such as saltmarsh, glasswort, the fragrant sea wormwood and sea lavender, whose flowers turn the entire area purple in summer.
Most of The Slufter is managed as a bird nesting and roosting area. Only the southern part is freely accessible. You can follow the path from the Sluftertrap to the beach. In the northern part many birds breed, such as eider duck, shelduck and avocet. In the Sluftergeul live marine animals such as crabs, shrimps and flatfish. (Text taken from the website of the National Park "Dunes of Texel")