To help wild animals cross the country safely, construction of the Netherlands Nature Network started in 2013. “People need roads to travel between villages,” Prak explains. “Animals need their own paths between nature reserves.”
For this purpose there are ecoducts, bridges with nature over road and rail, and fauna passages, tunnels or pipes under roads and rails. “To give wild animals the opportunity to travel from A to B,” says Prak.
This is sometimes necessary because there are too many animals in one nature reserve or because there is too little food. But according to Prak there is one problem: “The nature network is not yet finished. As a result, not all animals can use safe routes.”
The nature network should be ready by 2027, Prak says. But: “We’re not going to achieve that by a long shot.” Drenthe is also lagging behind in the construction of safe crossing points.
It is up to the province to create the nature network, they are responsible. Prak says it is logical that things are not going so quickly, because a lot has to be arranged.
For example, land must be purchased and then converted into nature so that animals feel safe and start using it. Prak: “It is difficult to acquire good land and it is also a political and financial decision.”
Yet there is always a chance that things will go wrong. Despite the measures to prevent wild animals, including wolves, from entering the road.
