On Thursday, the House of Representatives will debate nature in our country, which according to some parties is in a ‘deplorable’ state. “The Netherlands is champion of biodiversity loss,” says D66 MP Tjeerd de Groot. He aroused anger among farmers and fellow MPs because he called on the Dutch to take pictures of yellow fields and fields. According to De Groot, these are caused by spraying the controversial – but legally permitted – herbicides containing glyphosate. According to De Groot, the Dutch should send their snapshots of the yellow fields to the ministry to make the problem visible. “This is just a witch hunt,” says BBB party leader Caroline van der Plas. She accuses De Groot of ‘sedition’.
But a message from GL leader Jesse Klaver also causes annoyance among farmers and in the House of Representatives. He fears that as long as the nitrogen crisis is not tackled, plans for more housing will not come to fruition. His solution? “The choice is simple: cows or houses?” That in turn leads to criticism from CDA MP Derk Boswijk. “Both statements have a polarizing effect,” he says. “Both unnecessary and just what we don’t need now.”
rapprochement
There are some conciliatory sounds in the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon. GL is prepared to think about a whole new nitrogen system with much simpler rules, says Member of Parliament Laura Bromet. BBB is reaching out by arguing for better research into where nitrogen comes from and how it can be tackled effectively. A suggestion that GL can embrace. For example, why are measurements not taken from space, Bromet wants to know. “We now all have schemes that are based on calculations, but not on measurements,” agrees Van der Plas with her colleague from GL. According to the PvdA, the government must meanwhile ‘stand next to the farmers’ to make the ‘transition’ possible.
The VVD also recognizes that ‘close monitoring must be done’ on the effects on nature if measures are taken. MP Thom van Campen argues not only for protection, but also for reinforcement of those areas. As far as he is concerned, the bill should not end up with the farmer. “They often already work with narrow margins. Further down the chain, in the processing industry, suppliers and supermarkets, a lot of money is earned.”
‘All hands on deck’
Painful measures are sometimes necessary, says CDA MP Derk Boswijk. “It will be all hands on deck in many areas.” He advocates generous purchase arrangements. “That is not intended to buy out a great many farmers, but precisely for the farmers who have no successor. They often want to retire early. By offering them the opportunity to stop, you reduce the task for those left behind.”
Christianne van der Wal, the new minister for Nature and Nitrogen, says her ambition is to “preserve and strengthen nature.” According to Van der Wal, the loss of biodiversity requires not only a Dutch, but also a ‘firm European approach’. “If we want too much with our business and continue to exhaust nature, holes will appear in the fragile ecosystem.” According to Van der Wal, the Netherlands has crossed borders for ‘too long’. “We have to fix that. We have to realize that not everything is possible everywhere.”
According to the minister, the approach that it will roll out is based on scientific insights, whereby an ‘ecological authority’ will monitor the effects. To remove the Netherlands from the nitrogen lock, all kinds of measures are now being devised, including an ‘area-oriented approach’ in which the objectives are examined closely with provinces per area, says Van der Wal. “I am aware that many additional steps are needed,” she says. But according to the minister, this will ultimately ensure ‘peace on the farm’. “I don’t want us to have to knock on the door of the farmers again in three years’ time that something else is needed.”