It’s actually simple. “The Netherlands can only get rid of the nitrogen lock with good nature management,” says the new director of Staatsbosbeheer. And you need his organization for that. Staatsbosbeheer owns 7 percent of the land area of the Netherlands, 268,000 hectares, with often vulnerable nature reserves. Of the 162 Natura 2000 areas, 128 have a nitrogen problem and 110 of those areas are managed by Staatsbosbeheer. “You can call us the private law owner of the nitrogen problem.”
Hence.
Boudewijn Revis (51) has not spoken to the press since he came to work at Staatsbosbeheer five years ago after a councilorship in The Hague (VVD), and became general manager last year. Now he wants to speak out; there is a lot at stake. And so he meets NRC in the Haagse Bos, next to the Malieveld, in a former forester’s house.
Can you put an end to the nitrogen crisis?
“You cannot force society to reduce nitrogen if you do not also regulate nature management properly. You cannot buy out a farmer who then sees that nature is withering because there is no money for it. You have to be able to tell people who have to deal with emission reduction that it makes sense.”
Are you getting enough money?
“The short answer is no. We receive twelve different subsidy decisions from twelve provinces, each with twelve times 84 percent of the 100 percent needed to implement good nature management. We are permanently short of 16 percent. While nitrogen leads to higher costs in our areas, for example, we have to mow more often. Nitrogen causes the poor state of nature.”
You sometimes hear farmers say that if nature were managed better, less nitrogen would have to be reduced. Isn’t that right?
“No. It is true that when the water level in a nature reserve is high, some areas are more resilient to nitrogen. But emission reduction is desperately needed. Just like recovery measures. Provinces are happy to take these: carrying out a one-off action to do something that improves the system, and for which you can then cut a ribbon. But that has diverted attention from what you have to do over and over again, and that is management. Ecologically responsible mowing. Thinning a forest section every four years with the expertise of a forester. That is a child.”
But you can’t avert the nitrogen crisis with that, can you?
“Well, we are in a fragmented landscape with decentralized nature management by provinces. While we not only have the knowledge but also large areas for which we can take measures at a national level. Intensive management leads to healthier nature. We are a government executive, the government can give us assignments, you can make more use of that than now.”
We can play a key role in managing Defense and Rijkswaterstaat sites
What kind of assignments? More mowing everywhere?
“Not alone. There is a lot of debate about the transition areas of the Natura 2000 areas. How big should they be? Five hundred meters? Two kilometers? Area processes are underway in all provinces with different outcomes. You can look at it differently. We can make an analysis at national level in which transition areas hydrological measures have a lot of effect, and where less. We can also play a key role in managing sites owned by Defense and Rijkswaterstaat, for example. At Defense they are quite proud of all the flora and fauna in their area. But if we were to look at their sites near the Veluwe in conjunction with our areas there, and approach them as one system, we could get the maximum ecological return.”
Should State Forestry become more important?
“We are a legal entity with a legal task, which we must fulfill, especially given the circumstances. In order to achieve our goals, innovation in nature management is desperately needed. The last innovation dates from twelve years ago, when nature management was transferred to the provinces and significant cuts were made. The question now is whether we would not serve national interests better with a different structure; less complicated, less technocratic, less procedural, less legal, less contradictory, less compartmentalized. We must achieve focus on the European guidelines. And how can you take those goals seriously if you give us 84 percent of what is needed? You don’t say to the police: you get 84 percent of the 100 percent that is needed to keep the Netherlands safe.”
Achieving set nature goals is what it’s all about.
“A change is needed in the way we look at nature. It is often said that nature is a left-wing hobby, but it is often a very conservative matter. It is always about protecting, preserving, restoring, returning to the past. That does not correspond to reality. Nature is a moving ecosystem. We cling tenaciously to the obligation of more than a quarter of a century ago to preserve species. While new species are also emerging, for example due to climate change. A small bird suddenly appeared in the Biesbosch and makes a lot of noise. Cetti’s warbler. It came to the Netherlands from France. It is now everywhere. Bird watchers love it. But it is not recognized in the rules for Natura 2000. But should we accept that?
Should we take the collapse of our national godwit for granted?
“That is a complicated question. We have to look at it with an open mind. We are currently still assessing nature in a very species-oriented way. And I am now going to make the godwit very small, but it is actually nothing more than a signal species for the state of biodiversity in an area. And if the species diversity in that area is guaranteed, then it is not so bad if the godwit moves and, for example, a Cetti’s warbler comes to live there. The danger is that we say: we can do without it. godwit, so let’s build an asphalt road there. A well-functioning ecosystem is essential.
How can you, as a nature manager, keep up with climate change?
“Nature management must become less conservative, more focused on the future. You can always want to restore that beautiful cultural landscape from 1815, but I prefer to look ahead to what climate change will mean, population size, and what role healthy nature plays in this. Take the rivers. They will dry out more often in the summer and overflow their banks in the winter. That means wider riverbeds, more floodplains, like the Millingerwaard near Nijmegen has become a beautiful nature reserve, with cranes and beavers. That is the nature of the future, large natural systems. And we must embrace that in our spatial planning.”
By mixing tree species, a forest becomes more robust against climate change
How do you know what the future holds?
“We have to think about what a forest will look like in fifty or a hundred years. It is quite a dilemma as to which trees you should plant now. We have to ensure forests that grow in a warming climate, and that can withstand the cold if the Gulf Stream suddenly reverses. Fortunately, we have many passionate people with enormous professional knowledge. They see the change, think about the future. We are working on climate-proof forests, in which we partly replace coniferous wood with different types of deciduous trees. By mixing tree species, a forest more robust to climate change. So that if ash trees die due to ash branch mortality, you still have other species.”
Revis: “There is sometimes as much resistance to planting a tree as there is to cutting down a tree.”
Photo ANNABEL OOSTEWEEGHEL
This usually also means more space for nature. Is that space there?
“The extent to which an ecological system is robust certainly has to do with its size. But it is also essential how these nature reserves are connected to each other. The Netherlands is not getting bigger. We have to realize our ambitions with the current space; for electricity grids, defense sites, water safety, housing construction. These ambitions will not succeed without more space for nature, or if you do not consider nature as an ally. We can get more ecological returns from water safety and defense sites. We also work with a few thousand farmers on agricultural nature management and with more than fifty farmers we are going one step further, with nature-inclusive agriculture. And now greenery is still at the bottom when building residential areas. But you could also take greenery as a starting point, so that everyone has a view of trees and has a park within walking distance.”
Do we have enough forest?
“More forest is very important. We need more forest. It is good for the climate. For recreation. You can accommodate many more walkers in a forest than in an empty polder. We are also creating more forest, but we are also extremely dependent on permit processes and bureaucratic red tape. To my surprise, we also see a lot of conservatism. Resistance to change. People who do not want a forest because they want to look out over the polder. There is sometimes just as much resistance to planting a tree as against cutting down a tree.”
What is the condition of the current forests?
“Personally, I think a forest is fantastic, you quickly have a nice Sunday afternoon. But the crisis is enormous. Ecologically speaking, you are actually walking through a green coffin. Much has disappeared. Broken. Think of stinsen plants, the sound of insects, birds, flowers on the ground in the spring, and the trees themselves. The soil is heavily acidified centimeters deep by the nitrogen and by the acid rain that is still there. One of our forest managers recently visited Poland with young foresters to see what a forest can look like. In the Netherlands you hardly see that anymore, especially in the beautiful Savelsbos in South Limburg.”
There is climate grief among forest rangers
Do forest rangers still have a nice job?
“There is quite a lot of interest in it and our forest rangers enjoy their work, but sometimes we have to say: it is less romantic than you think. Society is becoming rougher. We recently had to draw up an aggression protocol to standardize which behavior from the public we no longer tolerate. You could not have imagined that fifteen years ago. But job satisfaction is also under pressure because of what you see outside. You see nature deteriorating. There is climate grief among forest rangers.”
You sometimes hear that our nature isn’t that big of a deal, right?
“The story that you have to go on holiday to the Amazon for real nature because it doesn’t offer much here is enormous nonsense. Our nature is unique. Because of the high sandy soils that transition into river deltas and the sea. These transitions ensure unique biodiversity. Take the gray dunes, a type of nature along the Dutch coast; 90 percent of all gray dunes in Europe are in the Netherlands. No, we have fantastic nature.”
What is your personal motivation?
“After politics, I consciously chose an implementation organization because I think I can achieve more here. It is now becoming philosophical, but you see that trust in the government is decreasing. And that trust in the government is not simply regained through a nice debate in the House of Representatives, but through results. And who achieves those results? The implementation organizations.”
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