Yūgen Forest Estate of Well-being
Yūgen Forest is a beautiful nature reserve, a place of connection.
Where you can get to the core, to yourself, and to each other.
Yūgen Forest is our utopia.
Here, all our dreams, ambitions, qualities, and loves come together.
We are one team with the landscape.
Because we believe in the inexhaustible power of nature.
And in a world where humans
have a positive impact on their environment.
We want to make it an even more beautiful place,
creating richer life, regenerating, managing, maximizing biodiversity.
Not to dominate, but to be a part of it,
and to learn from the ancient wisdom of Mother Earth.
Restoring and nourishing the relationship with everything that grows and blooms
is our responsibility, our guide, and our inspiration.
That is why we want to share Yūgen Forest with you.
Because among the greenery, wonder and awareness also grow;
the earth is not a resource, but an ally.
It is our mission to show you the abundance that arises
when you don’t just take, but also give back.
To let you taste that honest food is the very, very best.
We want to immerse you in this bounty
and care for you with everything Yūgen Forest has to offer.
Whether you come to meet, connect, celebrate, or find stillness.
Whether you look inward, outward, or toward the future.
You always go home stronger and more conscious.
Welcome to Yūgen Forest.
Our team
What brings us together is the conviction that a more beautiful world arises when you don’t just take, but also give.
Rogier Hoornweg
Head of Hospitality
A seasoned veteran in the hospitality trade who took this piece of land into his heart.
Petra Klein
Community coordinator and assistant market garden
From nursing in the hospital to loving assistant gardener and volunteer coordinator.
Robert Jalving
Estate employee
After a turbulent life, he found his place at Yūgen Forest along with his great loves Truus, Guus, Mo, and Lucky.
Munief Alderwish
Estate employee
Munief is our inexhaustible gardener, who keeps the market garden in top condition and helps with green management.
Saneliso Nxumalo
Head of Housekeeping
Sparkling and always cheerful, without her the facilities wouldn’t be so wonderful.
Roggebotstaete Estate
The nature reserve where Yūgen Forest has been allowed to take root was originally called Landgoed Roggebotstaete. A young and rare piece of polder land spanning 52 hectares.
Once a sandbank in the Zuiderzee, now one large, green, living bounty. In agreement with the Landgoed Roggebotstaete Foundation, we handle the management and sustainable, regenerative exploitation of this area, so it can continue to exist and grow for the generations after us.
Here, we restore and strengthen biodiversity, with special attention to insects, bees, and pollinators. We nourish the soil, sow native flowers, and create space in which the ecosystem can restore itself. Every step taken here, every meeting held here, contributes to a landscape that becomes richer instead of poorer.
Not to dominate, but to be a part of it. That is our promise to the land.
Impact
Yūgen Forest is Steward Owned. This means our nature reserve is managed based on a mission rather than profit maximization. It means we never enrich shareholders, but always nature.
By meeting, connecting, celebrating, or finding stillness here, you contribute to nature management, biodiversity, strengthening the soil, social-community projects, nature education, and human well-being.
If you choose to stay here, you help us with our mission: to show the world what bounty can arise when you don’t just take but also give back.
By being here, you make a difference and make the world a little bit more beautiful.
Collaborations for biodiversity.
We don’t restore nature alone. Together with companies, schools, and social organizations, we work on projects that strengthen biodiversity and make the landscape richer. Think of planting trees, developing food forests, creating hedges, and establishing new habitats for insects, birds, and other animals.
For many organizations, these nature work days are a way to make their sustainability goals tangible. By working on the land together with their team, they contribute directly to our nature reserve, which grows in biodiversity, beauty, and resilience every season.
Employees create a 420-meter hedgerow.
JTI employees create great ecological richness by planting 2,050 plants, shrubs, and trees.
Forest planted by students who work with wood.
Together with Groeiend G-hout and NMFF, students realize a Miyawaki forest of 650 trees in one day.
One nature work day = sustainable enrichment of the ecosystem.
APPM employees plant a tea hedge and strengthen soil and insect life.
Want to contribute too?
Would you like to contribute to nature restoration and biodiversity at Yūgen Forest by investing, donating, or organizing a nature work day? Feel free to contact us. We would love to tell you more.