Twelve of the fourteen Natura 2000 areas in Drenthe are sensitive to nitrogen and there are areas of nature beyond that area that are under pressure from eutrophication, acidification and desiccation. Ammonia emissions must be reduced by 2450 tons in Drenthe, which means 43 percent less emissions. The greatest challenge lies in Southwest Drenthe: that is where most of the livestock farms and three large Natura 2000 areas are located.
Drenthe wants to do this in three ways: through national measures that apply to everyone, a provincial approach and buying up (farming) companies that want to stop. As far as Jumelet is concerned, a lot has to be done in area processes, in other words customization. And many of the regional measures must link up or build on processes that have already started, such as Sustainable Farming Drenthe and circular agriculture. In the case of livestock farms, the focus will initially be on innovations, the purchase of voluntarily stopping farmers and less intensive farming.
But according to the agriculture and nature deputy, not much is possible at the moment. “Permits on the basis of ‘external netting’ (where rights of another stopping company are used for an expansion at another location) are no longer possible in Drenthe for the time being. This means that business expansions and other projects leading to nitrogen emissions can no longer be licensed , unless there is room within the existing permit (‘internal netting’) or on the basis of an Appropriate Assessment.”
Much that can be included in the agricultural agreement will probably also help to implement the DPLG and the National Rural Area Program (NPLG). Jumelet: “Think of agreements and solutions about feed and manure. Farmers who can manage with fewer cows, because they are paid for work they can do to nature or the water. Then biodiversity may also increase. And if successful, agreements If you have to deal with the large dairy processing companies and supermarket chains to get more yields to the farmer, then agriculture and especially livestock farming can become more extensive, so with fewer cows.”
The state of Drenthe’s nature has deteriorated sharply in recent decades. Typical Drenthe flora and fauna species have become rare or even disappeared. Fragmentation of the landscape due to reclamation and construction of roads and canals has also made life, growth, reproduction and migration of species more difficult. Their habitats have become increasingly smaller and isolated. In ever larger parts of their habitat, the influence of what humans do is noticeable.d.