Nature area is made from agricultural area near Oudemolen and Zeegse. With the Roodzanden project, ditches are filled in and the top layer of meadows are excavated.
As a result, biodiversity for both plant and animal must be improved. The project must be completed in March next year. Until then there will be much more freight traffic at the villages.
A field does not just become a nature reserve again, thanks to fertilization. “Because of the manure, there are only a number of species that can grow, but you want space to be created for more species,” explains Prolander’s project leader Maurijn Oude Essink.
That is why up to 30 centimeters of soil is excavated to remove the power supply. The soil is then taken away with trucks. According to contractor Avitec, this requires around 2,000 truck rides.
The trucks drive on a cycle path so that they don’t have to get through Zeegse. “We have worked out different scenarios and it turned out to be the safest and the least nuisance. The trucks are also not allowed through the village,” said the project leader. There will also be a traffic controller.
It is also important for this project that water needs to be done technically. In the current situation, the water flows quickly through ditches towards the Drentsche Aa. By partly dampening ditches and partly making it less deep, the water stays longer in the area.
Bos is also being cut down in different places to connect the different nature reserves. Oude Essink: “This makes it easier to connect each other.”
The work falls under the umbrella of Natuurnetwerk Nederland. This ‘network’ of land connects nature reserves so that plants and animals get more chance.
Nationally it has been agreed how much new nature should be realized. For Drenthe this was 13,600 hectares, of which more than half was tackled in 2023.
All work together last about six months. Yet that does not mean that a ‘ready -made’ nature reserve is delivered.
“If we are a few months later after the work, it will also be green again. With other species, hopefully with several species. That is what it will look like,” said Oude Essink.