Amsterdam and Amstelveen to discuss financing for maintenance of the Amsterdamse Bos

The Amsterdam city council has expressed the wish that Amstelveen will help finance the maintenance of the forest. The submitter of the proposal is Anke Bakker, leader of the Party for the Animals in Amsterdam. She indicates that it is necessary, because without additional financial help, the municipality is preparing to obtain the necessary money in other ways.

Theme park

Bakker does not agree with those plans. “Embarrassing even,” she says. “Alternative revenue models are being looked at, such as more events, food trucks and sponsor deals in the forest. I fear that we will turn it into a bit of an amusement park and put the forest on sale.”

She hopes for Amstelveen and Leo Adegeest, the team leader of Management and Maintenance of the Amsterdamse Bos, would like to see the ‘neighbours’ join in. “26% of the visitors come from Amstelveen, a larger part – 42% – from Amsterdam and the rest from the region,” he explains. “The forest is also largely within Amstelveen’s sphere of influence, so I think it is logical that we work together on this.”

But for Amstelveen alderman Floor Gordon it is clear: her municipality is doing everything necessary and she does not want to give the impression that Amstelveen pays nothing. “Ten years ago, a million euros was contributed and it was used in all kinds of ways,” says the alderman. “We also contributed about one and a half tons to the bamboo bridge, and last year for a piece of tree compensation at the Wagenaar stadium. If you compare that with the budget of Amsterdam, which is 22 times as large as ours, then that is converted almost 3.3 million.”

Anke Bakker of the Party for the Animals in Amsterdam does not dare to comment on the question of how much Amstelveen should contribute when cooperation starts in the coming years. “I am going to give a very unsatisfactory answer, but in negotiations it is never useful if I mention amounts,” said the group chairman.

Horse fell through bridge

Amsterdam will tackle the overdue maintenance in any case, but a multi-year plan is being worked on. The financial picture is not a good one, manager Leo Adegeest also knows. “We need 12 million on an annual basis in structural resources to keep the forest in order in a sustainable way,” he says at a bridge under maintenance. “In the spring of 2021, a horse fell through a bridge. That was a kind of wake-up call for everyone, something has to be done now. This can no longer continue.”

Conversations with Van der Horst

Alderman Gordon confirms that an exploratory conversation has been held with the responsible alderman in Amsterdam, Melanie van der Horst. Gordon is positive about the content of that conversation, but also states: “The forest has been in Amsterdam hands since 1928, so it is owned by Amsterdam and usually the owner takes care of the financing.” But she is not yet closing the door on financial support and she is looking forward to the planned talks with Van der Horst to look at the possibilities for a future collaboration to manage the forest.

name change

And if Amstelveen actually steps in, can the forest still keep its name? According to alderman Gordon, a name change is not logical in that case. “The Amsterdamse Bos is a name that has existed since 1947 and in the 42 years that I have been coming there, I have not known it any differently than the Amsterdamse Bos,” she says. “It shouldn’t be the first thing on the table in any case.”