From now on, visitors to the Biesbosch no longer have to do it in the bushes or against a tree. The National Park has had a natural toilet since Thursday. “It is better for nature if people use toilets.”
Anyone who wanted to relieve themselves in the Biesbosch previously had to rely on a tree or shrub. Since Thursday afternoon, wiping your ass with an oak leaf is a thing of the past. A natural toilet has been placed on the Hofmansplaat, a small island in the Biesbosch near Drimmelen.
Lack of a toilet
“We want to protect this area, but also keep it accessible so that people can relax, walk and experience nature here,” says councilor Patrick Akkermans of the municipality of Drimmelen. “No one should have to miss that because of such a practical concern as not having a toilet.”
By the way, anyone who is in dire need is out of luck. The natural toilet in the Biesbosch is located on an island, which can only be reached by boat for participants in excursions to the duck decoy, school classes and recreationists who want to walk the Boswachterspad.
No pungent smell of poop
The natural toilet has no water connection and electricity. There are also no sewage or chemicals involved. Fortunately, visitors to De Biesbosch National Park do not have to be afraid that a pungent odor of feces or piss will linger in the nature reserve after their visit to the toilet.
The poop ends up in a special crate. The urine seeps into a reservoir. A chimney ensures that the puddle evaporates. The poop dries up and eventually ends up in nature as compost.
“In addition, it is better for nature when people use toilets, instead of relieving themselves in the bushes,” says spokesperson Ivo Thonon of the MDL Fund (formerly the Stomach Liver Intestine Foundation). Besides the fact that he doesn’t like toilet paper in nature, human feces can also pollute the soil and water. “Natural toilets protect nature.”
Nowhere to pee or poop
With the public natural toilets, the municipality of Drimmelen, Staatsbosbeheer and the MDL Fund want to make a visit to nature easier. A quarter of Dutch people do not go into nature because they have nowhere to pee or poop. For schools, the lack of a toilet was a barrier to going on an excursion to the Hofmansplaat in the Biesbosch.
The wooden cubicle on the Hofmansplaat is not the first natural toilet in Brabant. In June 2024, two were opened in Vught, at the IJzeren Man and the Kapellebos. Furthermore, the toilet facilities are located at eight other locations in the Netherlands.
Ultimately, the MDL Fund wants to install about twenty new natural toilets in the Netherlands. In addition to the Biesbosch, four other National Parks in the Netherlands (Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Oosterschelde, Duinen van Texel and Zuid-Kennemerland) have plans for a natural toilet.
There should also be toilets in the dunes of Bergen aan Zee and in the Geestmerambacht recreation area near Alkmaar. De Biesbosch National Park wants to install more natural toilets, but there are no concrete plans yet.
Documentary on Brabant+
In The Biesbosch – nature in motion you dive into a landscape that continually reinvents itself. Where once plumes of industrial smoke hung above the water, a rare freshwater tidal area now flows that is unparalleled in the world. From whispering reed fields to hunting birds of prey and the play of light on the water: everything here lives to the rhythm of the tides.
You can watch the documentary for free and without an account Brabant+.
