The levels of atmospheric nitrogen deposition are currently too high to permit the protection of most of the terrestrial nature areas in the Netherlands.

Background nitrogen contributes by far the largest proportion of nitrogen deposition on nature areas, and 30 to 40% of the total deposition originates outside the Netherlands. Averaged over all BHD areas, only about 5% of the nitrogen deposition is in the form of ammonia released from local farms situated within a 500-metre zone around these areas. However, in some BHD areas, the deposition of ammonia from local agricultural sources is far higher than this average, and may rise to 30% of the total deposition. The environmental quality of these BHD areas can be substantially improved if farms are relocated from a 500-metre zone around them.
The most vulnerable nature areas are situated in the regions with sandy soils. These are also the regions where the deposition of nitrogen on nature areas from sources more than 2.5 kilometres away is so high that long-term protection cannot be achieved just by relocating farms from a limited zone around the protected areas

Figure: The sandy areas, where nature is most vulnerable, show the highest background deposition.

Under the Ammonia and Livestock Farming Act, zones are being designated to stabilize ammonia emissions and prevent the establishment of new farms. Farms in zones around (highly) vulnerable nature areas will no longer be permitted to expand. In time, some of these farms may close, thereby reducing the contribution to total deposition from these zones.