Jappie from Veenhuizen and his colleagues receive the green light for their self-devised nitrogen approach

While it is not possible to really make any headway on this subject in The Hague, livestock farmer Jappie Riedstra and eight of his colleagues around Veenhuizen have been working on this for quite some time. The nine farmers made a plan to significantly reduce the nitrogen burden on the nearby Fochteloërveen nature reserve. They also included other things, such as cleaner water and soil protection. They also took into account their village’s UNESCO World Heritage status.

National programme

In May 2019, the Council of State ruled that the then approach to nitrogen was inadequate. Since then, the national government and the provinces have been working on a national program for rural areas to better protect nature. Each province contributes, including Drenthe with a Drenthe program for rural areas.

Although this planning has not made much of an impact so far, it has led to fierce protests from farmers and their organizations, because they believe that they are being blamed.

Riedstra and his colleagues decided not to throw in the towel, but to make plans themselves. They were lucky that the province had just purchased a farm from a colleague who was retiring. This paved the way for a kind of land consolidation. Anyone who has land close to the Fochteloërveen can exchange it with land further away. This reduces nitrogen precipitation on the nature reserve, the soil is less fertilized and weak, rare plants can develop better.

Who stays and who stops?

The farmers put their cards on the table. Who wants to continue farming for a long time and who will stop in the long term due to a lack of succession, thus freeing up more land? This allowed them to put together a puzzle that resulted in an area plan that they submitted to the provincial government on November 21, which has now assessed it positively.

It is actually the work that the province is doing under the responsibility of deputy Jisse Otter (BBB) ​​in all areas with a nitrogen-sensitive Natura 2000 area. Otter is very pleased with the self-motivation of the Veenhuizer farmers. “They have already spent a lot of time on it, but details still need to be worked out.”

Puzzle closing

Prolander, the implementation organization of the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe, will help with this further development. This should show whether the goals regarding nature protection, clean water and clean soil are really within reach with the plan. It must also become clear whether the puzzle with the land consolidation is completely complete.

Jappie Riedstra is happy that the province is giving him and his colleagues the space to continue. “We can now get to work and take big steps.”