How can nature -inclusive agriculture strengthen vulnerable nature reserves? Staatsbosbeheer investigated the possibilities in a test. After six years, a report was issued with the findings. The Drenthe farm Naoberhoeve in Echten is also part of that pilot.
Nature -inclusive agriculture is based on cooperation between farmers and nature managers. The aim is to strengthen nature on the one hand and to create a revenue model based on sustainable agricultural activities.
In the recent period, Staatsbosbeheer has developed a working method for nature -inclusive agriculture and gained experience with it. Research into the scientific substantiation of the effects is only in full swing.
The report contains provisional, promising results and stories from practice. They point out that nature -inclusive agriculture can make an important contribution to social goals, including nature recovery.
In those six years, 45 cooperation agreements have been concluded between Staatsbosbeheer and Boeren, and 20 agreements will be added this year. “It really gets on steam now,” said Theo Bakker of Staatsbosbeheer. “The assignment was: to work with forty farmers. An acceleration followed in 2023, because the ambition was doubled. At the end of 2025 we expect the 66th farmer to sign an agreement for nature -inclusive lease with us.”
Gerlof Pronk from the Naoberhoeve in Echten is one of the farmers who are participating. He has a biodynamic company with a potstal. “That’s how we came into contact with Staatsbosbeheer,” says Pronk.
He continues: “Every day a layer of straw goes into the potstal on which the cows pee and poop on it. The next day a new layer has to go on it. I always paid a power to straw and further on I saw the forester dragging scattered to a digester that they had to pay for again. We sat down and we started a collaboration.”
To make the results measurable, 18 so-called performance indicators or KPIs were developed. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) completed a baseline measurement in 2022 so that results can be followed in the coming years. “The Netherlands stands for a transition to a different form of agriculture. That has a lot of feet in the earth for individual farmers, because everything is related to everything in their company,” said Judith Westerink, senior researcher at the WUR.
“If you want to stimulate nature -inclusive agriculture on a broader scale, you have to better understand what that means in practice. We collect different data, including vegetation, soil, insects and landscape elements. Economic development is also discussed. Unfortunately we can still name few figures or trends. Because new farmers were only joined in the beginning of every year.”
In the last year of the pilot, new farmers are rapidly joining. “Although the results of scientific research take a while, success examples show how nature -inclusive agriculture contributes to the approach to urgent assignments for agriculture, economy, nature and society,” the report said.
‘Just now that the momentum for nature-inclusive agriculture is growing so fast, it is important to continue the intensive use of the nature-inclusive agricultural team and the partners of Staatsbosbeheer. So that agriculture and nature can really reap the benefits of what has been initiated ‘, you can read.
In the Roeg! Broadcast today, nature-inclusive farmers in Drenthe are central. We are visiting Gerlof Pronk van de Naoberhoeve and we meet various arable farmers who, together with Staatsbosbeheer, are conducting experiments to continue the nature -inclusive farmers.