“We have a whole system of connecting zones in Drenthe, most of which still have to be constructed. But this one is very special, it is a very long one. From the village of Hollandscheveld, almost to the Reest. An entire strip, which makes the nature reserves that lie along it will be connected,” says Dekker enthusiastically. The strip consists of a variety of grasslands, forests, water and heathland and is on average about twenty meters wide.
“If you have natural areas loose in the landscape, and normal agricultural use is carried out around them, then they are all ‘flower pots’. Here a piece of heath, there a small fen, but they do not function in a ‘total system’. Plants and animals those areas then have little or no connection with plants and animals from a kilometer away,” Dekker explains.
“Some animals are very mobile, but others do not leave that piece of land. Ultimately you get a situation in which plants and animals become so genetically impoverished that they become extinct. If you ensure that the areas are connected, you will see that fresh blood comes into such a population and they bounce back and become vital.”
Things look good for the moor frog, viviparous lizard and perhaps even the viper. “You can already see plants growing that remind you of a heath in the distance: heath, shrub heather, migratory russet, mosses, low vegetation. These animals can make good use of this to gradually move to the next nature reserve.”
An example of another recently completed zone is the Verlengde Middenraai, adjacent to the Mantingerzand. These new nature connections are created with many other parties. Dekker: “Together with farmers, water boards, municipalities, land development committees. Then you have the opportunity to capitalize on those ecological connecting zones here and there, so that you can remove nature reserves from their isolation.”