A large piece of land with a special pond. In Alteveer, near Hoogeveen, there is a lot of work to make the meadow birds, such as the lapwing and the godwit, to the liking as well as possible.
The animals are increasingly skipping the Netherlands during their trips due to drought, predators and too little food. That should be better, so different parties come into action together to make the area at Alteveer attractive for meadow birds.
On the site of dairy farmer Van der Sar, 3.5 hectares have been reserved to make these birds happy. For example, a puddle has been installed. That is a lawn, with a small layer of water on it. Farmers receive compensation for the construction of this.
Meadow birds like that, because the bottom is soft and they can pick insects from it. In part, it must also provide protection so that predators, who are not crazy about water, stay remotely.
The drought has also been taken into account. Via special pumps that work on solar energy, the field stays wet.
The situation in Alteveer is quite unique, because there are many parties involved. The dairy farmer leases the piece of land from the Drenthe drinking water company WMD. The latter also wants to do more himself to promote biodiversity in Drenthe.
Landscape Management Drenthe has forged the plans for the project with money from the province. The municipality of Hoogeveen also makes a small investment to get things going. Furthermore, there are many volunteers and even some hunters involved.
Predators such as foxes can pose a threat to the meadow bird. You can’t just shoot it. That is possible in certain places in Drenthe, for example in the area of the DraSplas in Alteveer, Landscape Management Drenthe explains.
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