In the Netherlands, more forest is disappearing than is being planted
Research by the Netherlands Court of Audit shows that more and more forest is disappearing and being planted in the Netherlands. This has been happening since 2013, but the target in the national forestry strategy, which will put an end to the vegetable garden there from 2020, will probably not be achieved.
With all nature managers added up, there is more than 6,000 hectares less forest than at the start of the plan, according to the Netherlands Court of Audit in its investigation into forest management.
In 2020, the national government and provinces agreed that 10 percent more forest should be added nationwide in the long term. But the plans of the provinces differ considerably and do not always correspond with the national forest policy. According to the Court of Audit, the underlying rules and implementation do not guarantee sustainable forest management.
For example, there is insufficient rejuvenation of the forest nationwide and the provinces do not actively monitor the replanting obligation. Nor have agreements been made about who will be paid for the construction of new forest.
Deferred maintenance
There is also no overview of how decisions taken regionally or locally will turn out and how much overdue maintenance there is. Staatsbosbeheer knows that at a central level, and without that knowledge, Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) and the provinces cannot properly supervise or ultimately make adjustments. In 2014, responsibility for nature and landscape largely passed to the provinces.
According to the Court of Audit with regard to Staatsbosbeheer, an independent administrative body that manages more than a quarter of the forests is probably able to acquire 5,000 hectares of additional forest on its own grounds in the early years. Forest-rich provinces are also satisfied with how Staatsbosbeheer maintains the forests.
10 percent of the Netherlands is forest
Between 1970 and 2013, the forest area in the Netherlands developed from 325,706 hectares to 375,912 hectares. More than 10 percent of the land area in the Netherlands is forest. After that, the forest area decreased, to about 363,800 hectares. Over the past four years, more forest has been planted. That was partially successful, but the net is still deforestation, the Court of Audit reports.
In addition to Staatsbosbeheer, forest in the Netherlands is owned by many parties. For example, private forest owners save 31 percent of the forest, municipalities 15 percent, provinces 12 percent, nature monuments 8 percent and other owners 7 percent. Staatsbosbeheer manages 27 percent, which is more than 94,000 hectares, four times the city of Amsterdam.