Minister Van der Wal makes the Netherlands nature-friendly

The Netherlands are becoming more and more nature-friendly. Minister Christianne van der Wal for Nature and Nitrogen promised this in the House of Representatives. “This means that we will involve nature in everything we do: in food production, housing and infrastructure.”

Van der Wal shared his mission Thursday during a debate with the agriculture committee on nature. “Our ambition goes beyond the preservation and enhancement of nature. I want to work on making the Netherlands more nature-friendly. Nature is not only found in a forest, a nature reserve or a strip of dunes. It is also located in the park and in the green belts of the district.’

Ambition is not limited to the Netherlands. The firm also wishes to promote nature conservation in Europe and beyond, for example to combat deforestation.

The VVD Minister drew attention to the vulnerability of nature. “If we want too much from our activities and deplete nature even more, there will be holes in our ecosystem. With the nitrogen problem, we have seen that we have exceeded the limit of what nature can withstand too much. It is now important to give respite to nature and to the farmer.

densely populated

Van der Wal believes choices must be made to tackle the nitrogen problem. She pointed out that the Netherlands is densely populated and must adapt and measure up to spatial claims. “We have to realize that not everything is possible everywhere,” she said, following the advice on nitrogen from the Remkes committee.

However, the first step to breaking the nitrogen deadlock is to adopt, possibly mandatory, legally defensible measures, the minister said. Only where there is ‘legal inevitability’ can plans be implemented, so that there is room to implement the planned nitrogen approach.