Natuurmonumenten is tightening the rules in nature reserves. This is desperately needed, the organization says, because it is becoming increasingly busy in green areas. But what will happen with supervision in the future?
The association, which manages more than a hundred thousand hectares of nature in our country and has more than 900,000 members, wants clearer rules for visitors to those areas. For example, from now on, guests are allowed to bring a maximum of three dogs when they want to walk their four-legged friends in a forest or dune area of Natuurmonumenten. Drones are prohibited, just like people who want to scatter ashes. Anyone who wants to hold an event on a Natuurmonumenten site must from now on first request permission and pay for use.
According to the nature manager, these new rules are inevitable because increasing numbers of people are moving into the forests. As a result, plants and animals are under increasing pressure. From now on, only what is stated on the yellow signs at the entrance to the site is allowed in a nature reserve. Any activity not listed is prohibited.
Critics say that Natuurmonumenten is trying out a new revenue model and criticize the attempt to charge compensation in areas where this has not previously been done. They argue that the organization is trying to cash in on the backs of nature lovers. Moreover, most visitors would strictly adhere to the rules and, for example, not go off the paths during walks.
However, no one can deny that almost all nature reserves in our country have become considerably busier since the corona pandemic. The Dutch have apparently come to appreciate the silence and space in greenery more. But not all those compatriots take the rules seriously. Natuurmonumenten is receiving more and more complaints about stray dogs and nuisance, for example due to cross cyclists running over walkers or people making noise. The dumping of waste in green areas also appears to be increasing.
The vulnerable nature reserves are the last refuge of many plants and animals that can no longer live elsewhere in our dilapidated landscape. So they definitely deserve solid protection. That is why the measures that Natuurmonumenten is now taking are inevitable. But only when enforcement of the new rules is also monitored, there is reason for satisfaction.