Roadside management in the municipality of Coevorden has recently left much to be desired in many places. Mowing has been done far too rigorously in several places, say volunteers from the Bloeiend Benneveld working group. “This really needs to be improved.”
Gijsbert Six, resident of the village near Oosterhesselen, made this call during the committee meeting on Tuesday evening. His working group recently took stock and stated that phased mowing has not been done in various places in the countryside, while this should have been done to protect various insect species. “In fact, there was extensive mowing last year and nothing was left behind. In addition, a so-called mowing suction combination was used, which sucked away many insects and seeds.”
The working group fears that this method damages biodiversity. “The more herbs, the more insects and also more food for birds, for example. We have quite a lot of concerns about what has happened and believe that the municipality should improve this. After all, it has been agreed that we will opt for ecological mowing management. Councilor Jeroen Huizing should also be personally concerned about this, as he himself is an ambassador for the small fire butterfly.”
According to him, the problem does not only occur in Benneveld, but also in other villages. “We see the same thing happening in the area around Meppen, Wezup and Steenwijksmoer, but also along provincial roads.”
The working group therefore states that the instructions to implementers must be much better. “People are just doing something now, that really needs to be improved.”
Alderman Huizing (CDA) agreed with the latter. He therefore partly put on the sackcloth. “There was indeed not enough phased mowing, where it should have been, so mistakes were made,” he said. According to him, certain places along roads where native herbs had recently been sown were also not sufficiently included on the management map. “It was not the intention that mowing was done there. We will have to be critical of this and ensure that this does not repeat itself next year.”