The future also looks bright for the area. It is estimated that in 2030 there will no longer be an overload of nitrogen for 90 percent of the nature reserve. But for some areas there is still too much nitrogen.
Because of this nitrogen, the already endangered lime swamp threatens to disappear even further. Actually, that’s it already. Since the middle of the last century, the area of lime marsh has decreased. By how much is impossible to say, since no inventory has been made in the past. It is clear that the lime swamp has almost disappeared. There is only 0.1 hectare of lime marsh left in the Elper river basin.
The Elper River basin is one of the four nature reserves where lime marsh is still present. It falls under the protected European nature. And in the Netherlands it belongs to the ‘very species-rich, vulnerable, rare and endangered ecosystems’. Lime marsh is also ‘very sensitive’ to nitrogen.
Due to the amount of nitrogen in the area, acidification occurs. As a result, lime marsh, but also other nature areas such as blue grasslands, are being displaced by general species. In addition, due to desiccation in the area, the groundwater levels are sinking too far. And that is also unfavorable for lime marsh.
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