The drastic cabinet plan to limit nitrogen emissions is desperately needed to save nature. That is what forest ranger Irma de Potter says. At the same time, she understands the pain of many farmers affected by the plans. “But if we do nothing, we will lose many plant species for good.”
In nature reserve De Kampina between Boxtel and Oisterwijk you are currently walking through a sea of green. At first sight it does not seem that bad with the flora and fauna in the area. And that, according to the forester, is the big misconception.
“I hear it more often from people: ‘It does look nice.’ But we see that many species of plants are disappearing in the meantime.”
A little further on, she kneels to show an example. “This is a nice clump of pink heath. But we have seen it bloom less and less in recent years. This is due to different types of grasses that grow here. They deal much better with nitrogen, so they have started to proliferate and are now crowding out plants like the heath. ”
And that has quite a few consequences. “The smaller the variety of plants, the fewer animals can live here.”
“Timmies are born with broken legs.”
Not only plants, also trees are the victims. “That is also due to the large amount of nitrogen that precipitates,” says De Potter, pointing to a dead oak. “Nitrogen causes certain chemical processes in the soil. As a result, important minerals wash away to soil layers that the roots of the trees can no longer reach.”
This also means a minor disaster for the animals in the area. “Due to the lack of calcium in the soil, we see that birds lay fragile eggs, for example. Or that titmouse are even born with broken legs.”
“The measures are now suddenly very rigorous.”
To prevent this misery as much as possible, Irma de Potter and her colleagues try to restore nature as much as possible. “But as long as that nitrogen emission does not decrease, it is mopping with the tap open.” The plans of the cabinet are therefore received with applause in the nature reserve.
Although the forester understands how painful it is for farmers in particular. “It’s suddenly very rigorous now.” According to her, that was not necessarily the case. “We have been calling in vain for twenty years that something must be done about it. If only we had started then.”
This is what De Kampina looks like now:
