Johannes Bernardus Bernink

With the motto of "seeing is learning", he pioneered nature education in the Netherlands during an era that is known as biologisch reveil.

In 1898 he met Eli Heimans (1861–1914) and Jacobus Pieter Thijsse (1865–1945) who were amateur biologists involved in developing nature study.

Their magazine De Levende Natuur ("The Living Nature") was very popular[1] and Bernink wrote in it on the plants of Denekamp.

The area gained attention and many people visited including Hugo de Vries who came along with his students in 1907.

In 1946 Bernink was made an honorary member of the Royal Dutch Natural History Society.