Protected landscapes in the Netherlands: Changing ideas and approaches

Planning Perspectives

Volumn 24, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 435-455

  Janssen, Joks ^a  

^a Province of North Brabant ^*  (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Countryside planning; Landscape conservation; National Landscapes; Natural heritage; The Netherlands

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE; DECENTRALIZATION; HERITAGE CONSERVATION; LAND USE PLANNING; LANDSCAPE PROTECTION; NATIONAL PLANNING; PARADIGM SHIFT; POLICY STRATEGY; STATE ROLE; STRATEGIC APPROACH;

BENELUX; EURASIA; EUROPE; NETHERLANDS; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 71749094785     PISSN: 02665433     EISSN: 14664518     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02665430903145689     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. IUCN distinguishes protected areas in six categories. Category II (National Park) is defined as: Natural area of land and/or sea, designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible. United Nations Environment Program website, http://www.unep-ucmc.org/protected_areas/categories/eng/ii.pdf (accessed July 30, 2009).
2. IUCN Protected Area Category V (Protected Landscape) is defined as: Area of land, with coast and sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such an area. United Nations Environment Program website, http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/categories/eng/v.pdf (accessed July 30, 2009).
3. See for a short overview of the current policy for National Landscapes: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Nature balance 2007. Bilthoven: MNP, 2007, 66-70.
4. A more in-depth analysis is provided by: J. Janssen, N. Pieterse, and L. van den Broek, Nationale Landschappen. Beleidsdilemma's in de praktijk (Den Haag/Rotterdam: RPB/NAI Publishers, 2008).
5. In the mid-1990s a benchmark of protected landscape systems in Western Europe identified the Netherlands as one of the few countries without any formally or legally protected landscapes according to the standards of IUCN (Protected Area Category V - Protected Landscapes). See: J. Aitchison, Cultural Landscapes in Europe: A Geographical Perspective, in Cultural Landscapes of Universal Value: Components of a Global Strategy, ed. B. von Droste et al. (Jena: Fischer Verlag, 1995), 272-88.
6. H. van der Windt, En dan: wat is natuur nog in dit land? Natuurbescherming in Nederland (Amsterdam /Meppel: Boom, 1995).
7. K. van Berkel, Vóór Heimans en Thijsse: Frederik van Eeden sr. en de natuurbeleving in negentiendeeeuws Nederland (Den Haag: KNAW, 2006), 24.
8. J. Woudstra and P. Jacobus, Thijsse's Influence on Dutch Landscape Architecture', in Nature and Ideology: Natural Garden Design in the Twentieth Century, ed. J. Wolschke-Bulmahn (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1997), 155-85.
9. 'Natuurmonumenten' still exists today and has approximately one million members. It is the largest NGO for nature conservation in the country.
10. For instance, during the 1930s the Dutch constructed a dike 19 miles (31 km) long across the entrance of the Zuiderzee, thus creating a shallow freshwater lake called the IJsselmeer; they then proceeded to reclaim some three-fifths of the former sea for use as farmland. R. J. Hoeksema, Three Stages in the History of Land Reclamation of the Netherlands, Irrigation and Drainage 1 (2007): 113-26.
11. The difference between notions as unspoiled nature, (cultural) landscapes and the introduction of concepts like 'half-nature' and 'landscape monuments' within the circles of the privately-driven nature conservation movement in the years from 1940 onward reflect the awareness of the idea that Dutch nature was modified by human influence. Terms like 'half-nature' and 'semi-natural landscapes' were coined by the biologist Vic Westhoff (1916-2001), who played a prominent role in the Dutch nature conservation movement. Van der Windt, En dan: wat is natuur nog in dit land, 117.
12. The Contact Committee was an interest-promoting organization on nature and landscape conservation. Although it did not have a formal or institutional status, its advice reports and calls for the preservation of specific nature/landscape areas did have expressiveness. The power of the Committee originated from its members, who had influential positions in politics, industrial life and non-governmental organizations, such as Natuurmonumenten. For example, M. van der Goes van Naters, who became chairman of the Contact Committee after the Second World War, was Member of Parliament for the Dutch Labour party. In 1978, however, the Contact Committee fell apart. J.N.M. Dekker, Dynamiek in de Nederlandse Natuurbescherming (Utrecht: Universiteit Utrecht, 2002), 31-2.
13. A.J. van der Valk, Planologie en natuurbescherming in historisch perspectief ('s-Gravenhage: NIROV, 1982).
14. H. Cleyndert Azn., De bescherming en de opbouw van het Nederlandsche landschap. Voordracht in de algemene ledenvergadering van 18 maart 1939, in Jaarboek der Vereniging tot behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland 1936-1940 (Amsterdam, 1941), 101-21.
15. K. Bosma, Regional Planning in the Netherlands 1920-1945, Planning Perspectives 2 (1990): 125-47.
16. L. van Vuuren, Een nationaal park in Nederland (Utrecht: Kemink, 1933).
17. The pre-war ideas on establishing national parks in the Netherlands, as put forward by van Vuuren, Thijsse and others, participated in the production of Dutch national identity. This interlinkage between environmental protection, nation building and identity formation can also be traced in America after the Civil War. R. Grusin, Culture, Technology, and the Creation of America's National Parks (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
18. The National Planning Office advised the head of the Department of Housing on several spatial planning issues. Because the head of the Department of Housing used his title to make objection to the carrying out of any work incompatible with the National Plan (in preparation) some highly valued nature and landscape areas could be protected.
19. J.L. van Zanden and S.W. Verstegen, Groene geschiedenis van Nederland (Utrecht: Het Spectrum, 1993).
20. S. Mansholt, 'The Mansholt Plan' as established in CEC, 1968: Memorandum on the Reform of Agriculture in the European Economic Community, COM (68) 100 (Brussels: European Commission, 1968).
21. Ministerie van Cultuur, Recreatie en Maatschappelijk Werk [MCRM]. Nota inzake een systeem van nationale parken en nationale landschapsparken in Nederland. Den Haag: MRCM, 1971.
22. The Department of Nature and Landscape Conservation adopted the national parks, whereas the Department of Outdoor Recreation became responsible for the national landscape parks. Obviously, national landscape parks were thought of as designated areas that could satisfy the heavy demands of residents for recreation and amenities.
23. In an appendix of the 1971 budget for the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work, policy makers stated that the New Delhi resolution would be used as guideline for official consultation on the establishment of nature conservation areas. For the Netherlands it was more easy to adhere to the IUCN's concept of national parks simply because these conservation areas still had to be established on the date IUCN came up with the New Delhi resolution. Other European countries, in particular Great Britain, already established national parks in the early post-war period. The national parks of England and Wales are areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape that are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949. Despite the name, national parks in England and Wales are different from the IUCN's national park concept; they adhere more closely to IUCN Category V - Protected Landscapes. See: F.C.M. van Rijckevorsel, De ontwikkeling van nationale landschapsparken in Nederland ('s-Gravenhage: Staatsdrukkerij, 1972), 4.
24. See for a general account of the IUCN protected area system: P.H.C. Lucas, Protected Landscapes: A Guide for Policy-makers and Planners (New York: Chapman & Hall, 1992).
25. In total the Netherlands has 20 National Parks. The two oldest parks, Veluwezoom (1930) and Hoge Veluwe (1935), were founded by private persons. This is in line with the pre-war dominance of private initiatives in nature conservation. After the Second World War, more particular the period from 1980s onward, successive ministers for Agriculture, Nature and Food quality established the remaining 18 parks.
26. Because landscape parks would be important for recreation and access to the countryside, from the outset the Dutch motoring and tourist organization (ANWB) actively supported the idea of their establishment. ANWB. De nationale landschapsparken. Inhoudende de beschouwingen van de recreatie-studiedag 1971 en aanvullende artikelen. Den Haag: ANWB, 1972.
27. Ministerie van Cultuur, Recreatie en Maatschappelijk Werk [MCRM]. Advies van de Interdepart mentale Commissie nationale parken en nationale landschapsparken: deel 2 Interimadvies Nationale Landschapsparken [Advice on national parks and national landscape parks].'s-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, 1975.
28. Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij [MLNV]. Nota betreffende de relatie landbouw en natuur- en landschapsbehoud: gemeenschappelijke uitgangspunten voor het beleid inzake de uit een oogpunt van natuur- en landschapsbehoud waardevolle agrarische cultuurlandschappen [Policy framework on the relation between agriculture and nature and landscape conservation].'s-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, 1975.
29. These pilot areas were: Noordwest-Overijssel, Waterland, Winterswijk, De Veluwe, and Mergel land. See for a detailed evaluation of these pilots: W.G. van der Kloet, Nationale landschapsparken, Nederlands Bosbouwtijdschrift 11-12 (1980): 277-317.
30. Ministerie van Cultuur, Recreatie en Maatschappelijk Werk [MCRM]. Eindadvies Nationale Landschapsparken [Final advice on national landscape parks].'s-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, 1980.
31. E. Denig, Boer of parkwachter, enige gedachten over nationale landschappen (Den Haag: SDU Uitgevers, 1975).
32. Since 1994, 11 areas in the Netherlands have been designated as VMLs. Countryside areas designated as such were financially supported by the Ministry of Agriculture to execute projects stimulating agricultural and recreational practices that would enforce landscape quality. In 2002 the policy was halted. Most former VMLs have become part of a National Landscape. See for a more detailed account of the VML-policy: M. Pleijte et al., WCL's ingekleurd: Monitoring en evaluatie van het beleid voor Waardevolle Cultuurlandschappen (Alterra: Wageningen, 2000).
33. M. Hajer and F. Halsema, eds., Land in zicht! Een cultuurpolitieke visie op de ruimtelijke inrichting (Amsterdam: Wiarda Beckman Stichting/Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 1997).
34. The Dutch landscape architect H. Lörzing has quite extensively elaborated on the the controversy between the national planning policy towards the Green Heart (which is aimed at preserving the Green Heart as an open, unspoiled meadow landscape between the largest urban areas of the country) and the aspirations of local politicians to make their towns and cities grow. See: H. Lörzing, 'Planning System and Landscape: A Dutch Example', Landscape Research 4 (2004): 357-69.
35. Verslag van een notaoverleg, April 15, 2002 (TK vergaderjaar 2001-2002, 27 578, nr. 103)
36. Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieu [MVROM]. Nota ruimte; ruimte voor ontwikkeling [National Spatial Strategy]. Den Haag: SDU Uitgevers, 2004, 3.
37. B. Vink and A. van der Burg, New Dutch Spatial Planning Policy Creates Space for Development, DISP 1 (2006): 42.
38. F. Schoorl, 'On Authenticity and Artificiality in Heritage Policies in the Netherlands', Museum International 3 (2005): 79-85.
39. Up until today, the Arcadian tradition is most influential in the Netherlands. See for a detailed account of contemporary visions on Dutch nature: H.J. van der Windt, J.A.A. Swart, and J. Keulartz, Nature and Landscape Planning: Exploring the Dynamics of Valuation, the Case of the Netherlands, Landscape and Urban Planning 3-4 (2007): 218-28.
40. E. H. Hamin, Western European Approaches to Landscape Protection: A Review of the Literature', Journal of Planning Literature 3 (2002): 339-58.
41. For instance, National Parks in the UK are governed by National Park Authorities (NPAs). They are corporate bodies with executive powers. The NPAs are strategic and local planning authorities for their area, and have all the 'countryside' powers available to local government.
42. Council for the Rural Area. National Landscapes: A Steady Course and Ceaseless Effort. Amersfoort: RLG, 2005.