De Onlanden nature reserve started as several small pieces of nature. Twenty years later it is an area with a lot of life, from otters to rare plants and birds. The foundation of the area is the Natuurbelang De Onlanden foundation.
“It was founded on January 10, 2000, when we set a millennium goal,” says the first chairman Herman Sips. “We had the idea of turning the fragmented areas into a large nature reserve. The need for water storage came at just that. That turned out to be a catalyst for the process.”
Because there were major water problems in the city of Groningen. Two years earlier, in 1998, there was water in the Groninger Museum and dikes were in danger of breaking. Plans for a large area where the water could be collected followed, but not everyone was immediately keen on this.
But after a lot of work by Sips from the water board and in collaboration with the foundation, it was successful. “The best part was of course that organizations embraced De Onlanden and dared to look beyond the border. The area was larger than just Staatsbosbeheer and Natuurmonumenten.”