The province of Utrecht has submitted the final package of measures for the development of the Utrecht Rural Area Program to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV). These package of measures are intended to receive government resources for the implementation of projects that contribute to a future-proof and healthy rural area. The packages consist of measures that are sufficiently promising to be implemented in the short term.
The provinces face a major challenge; nature must be restored and nitrogen emissions must be reduced. In addition, water and soil quality must be improved and we are working hard to create a vital and sustainable agricultural sector. This transition of the rural area is not possible without resources from the government. That is why the province submitted six draft packages of measures to the government on July 5, 2023 – at the same time as the Utrecht Rural Area Program (UPLG). The six packages of measures have been tested in the past period by Wageningen Economic Research (WEcR), adjusted and therefore significantly improved and have now been resubmitted to the government for final decision-making.
View of 284 million euros
When discussing the LNV budget, the House of Representatives agreed to make 1.28 billion euros available to finance the packages of measures. Based on the aforementioned WEcR assessment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has divided this 1.28 billion euros indicatively among the 12 provinces. The province of Utrecht has the prospect of 284 million euros to further shape the future of the Utrecht rural area. This amount is intended for the first four packages and is still indicative; The package of measures from all provinces will be definitively assessed in the coming months. The government is expected to make a final decision on the allocation of government resources in July 2024.
Keeping energy in the areas
The province of Utrecht has been awarded the highest amount of all provinces. Mirjam Sterk, deputy for Rural Area Transition: “We have of course been working for a long time and we are doing what is possible, but we desperately need the money to continue. We now hope to continue working quickly, together with our area partners, on the restoration of nature, a healthy water system, sustainable agriculture and a good future for our farmers. This way we can keep the energy that exists in certain areas where farmers really want to make progress. And then really start achieving results.”
And that is exactly what the other provinces also need: “We sincerely hope that the provinces that currently receive fewer resources from the government can count on more money in the second tranche. So that they too can quickly get started on the future of their rural area.”
The package of measures
Although the province is expected to receive resources for (parts of) the first four packages, six packages are being submitted due to the urgency. The packages contain measures for nature, water, climate and agriculture that are sufficiently promising to be implemented in the short term (2024 – 2027) and that contribute to the UPLG tasks:
- Measure package 1. Green-blue ribbons and wedges and farm ditches
This package includes four areas that correspond with the green wedges and ribbons of Utrecht. These are four areas from the Green Grow Alongstrategy: Hollandsche IJssel, Southern Eem Valley, Kromme Rijn Line Landscape and Noorderpark. In addition, this package contains a measure for the ecological management of farm ditches throughout the province. This ensures a strong expansion of the fine-meshed green-blue interconnection of the entire rural area for the benefit of biodiversity, ecological water quality (Water Framework Directive), climate adaptation and mitigation.
- Measure package 2. Peat meadows
The Peat Meadows package contains measures for the peat meadows in the Eem Valley and in West Utrecht, which ensure that the summer groundwater level in the peat meadow areas increases. This also includes measures to ensure that more water is retained in winter and spring. In addition, it concerns supporting initiatives that are necessary for the aforementioned measures to function properly and that can be easily combined with them, such as measures aimed at meadow birds.
- Measure package 3. Agriculture
The Agriculture measure package is for the entire province. The package has been put together to achieve results on the UPLG goals in the short term. This allows farmers to quickly start making their business operations more sustainable and reduce a number of important emissions, such as ammonia, nutrient leaching and run-off and greenhouse gases. This also contributes to achieving the goals for nature. The basis of this package is ‘goal management’ and the stimulation of sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Measure package 4. Transition zones Natura 2000 areas
This package of measures includes measures to stop the deterioration of the nature objectives and to achieve the favorable conservation status of the Natura 2000 areas. In broad terms, this concerns the realization of recovery measures in and around the Natura 2000 areas, ecological connections between the nature reserves, functional adjustments, hydrological recovery and reduction of nitrogen in the transition zones. The package covers five Natura 2000 areas: Zouweboezem, Uiterwaarden Lek, Binnenveld, Kolland & Overlangbroek and Noorderpark.
- Measure package 5. Ridge and flanks
The basis for ‘Hill Ridge and Flanks’ is described in the Ambition document Blue Agenda. Some of the measures from this agenda are included in this package. The aim of the Blue Agenda is to make the water system of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug more robust so that all functions can better benefit from the large freshwater supply, and to absorb the effects of climate change as much as possible. By infiltrating and retaining more water, the availability of water for all functions is increased and the consequences of flooding are limited. On the lower flanks, work is being done towards a more robust and future-proof water system through hydrological unbundling.
- Measure package 6. Stream valleys
This package of measures focuses both on the streams themselves and on a much larger area of stream valleys. The package includes measures that contribute to natural stream recovery for the Moorsterbeek, Heiligerbeek, Lunterse Beek and the supply streams. The measures for these streams come from various stream restoration implementation programs. They are therefore concrete and can be implemented quickly.
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