Nature in the Netherlands is under severe pressure, concludes the World Wildlife Fund in its biennial ‘Living Planet Report’. Yet the organization also has a hopeful message: recovery is possible. This has already been done in De Onlanden.
It has a yellowish head and a dark carapace, measures about one and a half centimeters and had not been found in the Northern Netherlands since the 1970s: the striped predatory beetle. In the summer of 2020, biologist Rick Middelbos fished three out of the water in the Onlanden in a short time.
“So either he hasn’t been found in almost fifty years – which is unlikely, because he was certainly wanted,” says Middelbos. “Or it means that the restoration of nature has been successful here.”
Originated as a water storage facility to protect Groningen
The World Wildlife Fund (WNF) also draws the same conclusion about De Onlanden, an area of about 2500 hectares on the border of Groningen and Drenthe. This week, WWF published a study into the state of nature in the Netherlands. In short, the conclusions are not cheerful, but a little hopeful.
In many types of nature areas, especially raised moors, heathland and woods, fewer and fewer species of animals and plants live. They cannot survive due to pollution in the water and nitrogen in the soil. At the same time, the researchers also see areas where nature has started to do better thanks to restoration measures – such as De Onlanden, and the valleys of the Hunze and the Drentsche Aa that lie nearby.
“And that while it is only just underway as a nature reserve,” says forest ranger Bart Zwiers of Natuurmonumenten. The Onlanden originated as a water storage facility for the city of Groningen, where in 1998 the city’s canals were in danger of flooding after heavy rainfall. In the years that followed, the area was transformed from an agricultural polder into a water-rich swamp. “We have really given nature space, and the confidence that it will come back when it is given that space,” says Zwiers. “The Onlanden have not disappointed us. In fact, we were pleasantly surprised.”
More bitterns than in the entire Biesbosch
White-cheeked terns, marsh birds that until recently did not occur in the Netherlands at all, and rare bitterns are now breeding here. “Last year there were 32 breeding pairs, more than in the entire Biesbosch. We are still seeing species coming in. The white-tailed eagle is of course every forester’s dream.” The huge bird of prey already breeds in nearby Hunzedal.
Natuurmonumenten works together with farmers in the Onlanden. “In brook valleys, a stream runs at the bottom, in the gutter. But you want to have grazing at the top, because otherwise everything will grow over with moss”, explains Zwiers. “Long ago, large grazers, red deer and primeval cattle lived here, now cows play the same role.”
Wet nature can handle nitrogen better
De Onlanden is not the only one of its kind in the Netherlands; there are more wet areas where things are going relatively well. How did that happen? “Partly because of their dual function,” thinks biologist Middelbos. “They are not only a nature reserve, but also a water buffer. In addition, wet areas are not very suitable for agriculture anyway, which makes it easier to give them up for nature.”
There is one more important factor. “The nitrogen sensitivity of wet nature is low,” explains Middelbos. “It is a relatively nutrient-rich and acidified area. That is much less vulnerable than poor sandy soil, where nitrogen can disrupt the balance enormously.”
We also have such sparse nature in the Northern Netherlands, especially in Drenthe. “Raised moor areas, heaths, forests on sandy soil and agricultural areas: things are going really badly. At the moment, nature restoration only seems to work if we put everything under water”, notes Middelbos.
‘Nature is not left or right, but important for everyone’
Where peat bogs and other freshwater areas thrive, biodiversity in drier parts of the Netherlands has been declining since the 1990s. That can be done differently, says the WWF, but then nitrogen emissions and pollution in the water must be reduced significantly. New European legislation will soon come into effect that will regulate the protection of nature more clearly. This does not only concern areas that have an official Natura 2000 status, but all nature.
That comes not too soon, says Middelbos. “It frustrates me that nature is sometimes portrayed as a kind of left-wing hobby. Nature is not left or right, it is important to all of us. We really need to work on better connections between nature reserves. If there is a wooded bank between two heathlands, that already helps insects to cross.”
Boswachter Zwiers also sees plenty of work to do. “The Onlanden are part of a large system in which not everything is in order yet. For example, there is too much phosphate in the water. Special types of vegetation, such as orchids, are therefore not doing well.” He has high hopes for improvement. “We are in close consultation with the water boards, water companies and agriculture. Everyone sees that recovery is necessary. Nature clubs and farmers are often pitted against each other, but we really have to do it together.”