Headlines in Nature Balance 2003

Climate change is already bringing about structural changes in nature: plant and animal habitats are shifting and species are adapting their life cycles. The temperature is rising so fast that not all plant and animal species are expected to be able to keep up. These changes can be eased by policies for creating a coherent network of nature areas so that plants and animals can reach suitable new habitats. This is the aim of the National Ecological Network (NEN), but its assembly is behind schedule and in danger of falling further behind (Figure 1).

Many plant and animal populations in the Netherlands are declining in number. In most of the conservation areas designated under the Birds and Habitats Directives, the environmental quality is not good enough for the long-term protection of species. Outside the protected areas, the rural landscape is becoming an increasingly difficult barrier for plants and animals to cross because of expanding urbanization and intensive agricultural practices.

Figure: Progress in achieving nature policy targets for 2002 and prospects for targets still to be met.

The reference framework is the area of land that should have been assembled by the end of 2002 based on the ‘old’ targets that applied up to the end of 2002, and assuming linear progress from the start in 1990 to the final goal in 2018. 

The ‘new’ targets are the area targets after the changes made by the previous coalition government at the end of 2002. 

This change of course reduces the area of land to be purchased for natural habitat development and increases the area to be covered by agreements with private landowners on the use and management of their land for nature conservation.

More detailed information can be found on the following pages

The 2003 theme: Nature and climate 

Natura 2000 and the National Ecological Network 

Protecting Bird and Habitat Directive (BHD) areas against nitrogen deposition requires generic measures 

Falling water tables and eutrophication are persistent problems

North Sea fisheries damage fish stocks and nature 

More private nature management puts prompt implementation of the NEN under increasing doubt 

Landscape and urbanization 

From paper to practice