The National Parks believe that the cabinet “exceeds all boundaries of reasonableness and decency” by almost completely withdrawing a financial contribution. The 21 areas, including National Parks Drentsche Aa, the Dwingelderveld and the Drents-Friese Wold, would receive around 6 million euros a year up to and including 2030.
However, in the spring memorandum established last month, the coalition parties largely deleted that amount. The national parks believe that the cabinet “drops” them. They call on the Upper and Lower House to reverse the proposed cut, which, according to them, adds to almost 24 million euros.
“Otherwise, structural financing for the parks will fall away. And that means quite a bit,” said a spokeswoman. “The national parks then no longer have resources for education and communication, but also not for facilities, visitor management and volunteer policy. The connection with society is gone.”
According to the spokeswoman, the parks for their income are mainly dependent on the government. “Some provinces also make a financial contribution, but that differs per park. That is why everyone was happy with this structural income.”
Less than a month ago, the parks with the State, provinces and municipalities signed a manifesto, with which they scisses themselves behind the goals from the National Parks 2024-2030 policy program in 2023. This means, among other things, a “quality improvement” in the parks. “Given the processed process, the shock was great when it turned out that the required money for this falls away.”
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) speaks of “Bends” in the budget. “The government stands for gaps and is working on a living environment where nature and economic development reinforce each other. This focuses on improving nature where this is most needed. The national parks now have less priority for this cabinet,” said an LVVN spokeswoman.