Policy on Biodiversity in the Netherlands
Nature is of vital importance to human wellbeing. Nature provides resources and services that form the basis under our economy. A rich and varied natural environment is indispensable for our health and general well-being.
During the last century species richness and surface area of unspoiled nature have diminished worldwide. Global policy agreements have therefor been reached on order to stop these negative trends. The Dutch government, together with civil society partners, has developed a ‘nature vision’ as a firm foundation for future policy making. This Government Vision 2014 ‘The Natural way forward’ was published in 2014 and covers the period until 2025.
Nature Policy of the Netherlands
The Netherlands has a varied nature with plants, animals, forests, swamps and sea. Nature not only is beautiful, but also important for the economy and well-being of people. During the last centuries the quality of nature has strongly declined. That is why the government protects nature. Dutch Nature policy traditionally focusses on protected areas and the protection of the plants and animals that depend on them. Conservation of species is established by creating and enhancing natural habitats and improvement of environmental conditions (via spatial planning and water- and environmental policies). Instruments such as the Dutch National Ecological Network (formerly Ecological Main structure), Natura 2000 and the Nature protection law remain important to preserve the species richness and protected areas in the Netherlands.
The Dutch government is responsible for setting the boundaries and ambitions of Nature policy. The twelve provinces are responsible for detailed development and execution of the policies. The regulations for this division of responsibilities are laid down in the ‘Agreement on decentralization of nature policy’ of 2011 (in Dutch) and later further elaborated in the ‘Pact for Nature’ of 2013 (in Dutch), send to Parliament by the state secretary of that time Dijksma.
The Dutch Government calls upon its citizens and the private sector to help successful execution of the Nature policy. A challenge which among others has been accepted in the context of the ‘Deltaplan on Biodiversity recovery’ (in Dutch: Deltaplan Biodiversiteitsherstel), which in 2022 launched a 'Toolbox for Biodiversity', in dutch: Toolbox voor Biodiversiteit) and by the 'Nature Inclusivity Collective' (in Dutch: the Collectief Natuurinclusief). The latter is a collaboration between public and private parties under the leadership of the National Nature Inclusivity Council (in Dutch: Natuurinclusief Nationaal Overleg (NiNO) under coordination of the 'Consultation Body for the Physical Environment' (in Dutch: Overlegorgaan Fysieke Leefomgeving, OFL). In 2023 this Nature Inclusivity Collective published the Nature Inclusivity Agenda 2.0, which was send to Parliament by the Minister for Nature and Nitrogen.
In response to the Global Assessment report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) the Dutch government has set up the Programme ‘Reinforcement Biodiversity’ (in Dutch: ‘Versterken Biodiversiteit’). See also: the announcement letter (in Dutch) of October 2019 and the letter to Parliament (in Dutch) on the Programme ‘Versterken Biodiversiteit’ (Reinforcement Biodiversity’) of October 2020. In these two letters also reference was made to the ambition of the government at that time to lower the ecological footprint of the Netherlands. The then following Cabinet added to that a few additional elements in a letter to Parliament by the Minister for Nature and Nitrogen and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in a response to the study ‘National responsibility for ecological breakdown: a fair-shares assessment of resource use, 1970–2017’
In relation to the 15th Conference of Parties of the CBD in december 2022 the Government of the Netherlands sent a letter to Parliament on the expectations (in Dutch: ‘Verwachtingen biodiversiteitsconferentie COP15’). Early 2023 also the outcomes were presented in a letter to Parliament (in Dutch: ‘uitkomsten COP15 VN-Biodiversiteitsverdrag’).
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan NBSAP
At the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of Parties of the CBD in 2022 the Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted, including the obligation to contracting Parties to renew their ‘National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan’ (NBSAP). From medio 2023 till March 2025 The Netherlands worked on the preparation of it.
In the context of one of the 2030 targets, number 18 on the identification and reduction of harmful subsidies and the scaling up of positive incentives, in the beginning of 2024 a methodology was developed. Furthermore the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency PBL at that same period of time produced a report gathering relevant information for the Ministries involved to be able to develop the policies to draw up the NBSAP: The implications of the UN ‘Kunming-Montreal Framework for Biodiversity’ or in Dutch ‘De betekenis van het VN ‘Kunming-Montreal Raamwerk voor biodiversiteit’ voor het Nederlandse beleid’, which was ultimately published in May 2024. In the concept NBSAP, at the level of the civil servants involved, the necessary actions were described, based on, among other sources of information, this scientific analysis of what the GBF should implicate for the national and international nature policy of the Netherlands. Due to the then caretaker status (since medio 2023) of the government, the ultimate NBSAP was left for the new government to be formed after the November 2024 elections.
The outgoing Ministers Adema (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) and van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) however still did send a letter to Parliament in March 2024 regarding ‘sustainable food system across the border (international approach of LNV)’ or in Dutch ‘volhoudbare voedselsystemen over de grens (internationale inzet van LNV)’. In this they sketched three closely related goals (1. Long term perspective for the agriculture, fisheries and horticultural sectors; 2. Global Food security and reaching the climate goals; and 3. Conservation and restoration of biodiversity worldwide).
Also the caretaking Minister for Nature and Nitrogen in March 2024 discussed with the members of the Parliamentary standing committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality her ‘letter on the tenth conference of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ or in Dutch ‘brief inzake de Tiende Conferentie van het Intergouvernementeel Platform voor Biodiversiteit en Ecosysteemdiensten’ and the ‘policy respons on the evaluation of the Invasive Alian Species regulation and IPBES report on Invasive Alien Species’ or in Dutch ‘beleidsreactie op evaluatie Exotenverordening en IPBES-rapport over invasieve exoten’.
Since medio 2024 the responsibility for the establishment of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) lay with the State Secretary of Nature, Fisheries, Food security and Nature. Due to the change in government some additional time was still needed to come to the definite NBSAP. The decision was made to wait till after the 16th Conference of Parties of the CBD in October 2024 in Cali, Colombia. In relation to that the government of the Netherlands drew up a letter to Parliament: ‘position of the Netherlands for the 16the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity’ or in Dutch ‘Nederlandse Inzet voor de 16e Conferentie van Partijen voor het Verdrag Inzake Biologische Diversiteit’.
At the end of November 2024 the results were presented to Parliament in a letter on the ‘Outcomes of COP16 UN Biodiversity convention’ or in Dutch ‘uitkomsten COP16 VN-Biodiversiteitsverdrag’.
While in early March 2025 in Rome still an extra session took place to finalize COP16, the government of the Netherlands ultimately in mid-March 2025 decided on the issuing of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan – NBSAP of the Netherlands. It was presented to Parliament by the State Secretary of Nature, Fisheries, Food security and Nature by means of a letter. In this letter also the adaptations from the earlier official version (by civil servants) were indicated (i.e. the modification of the earlier position by the government on halving the ecological footprint of the Netherlands by 2025 (letter to Parliament in Dutch), including a better method of monitoring and reducing this (letter to Parliament in Dutch) and a perspective on the footprint of the Netherlands in comparison to other countries (letter to Parliament in Dutch) ).
All CBD contracting parties have agreed to take stock of joint progress at COP17.
A number of non-governmental organizations at their own initiative have issued a joint appreciation of the NBSAP of the Netherlands (in Dutch). Also there is an initiative by the World Wide Fund for Nature in which NBSAPs are compared globally according to a fixed set of criteria: NBSAP tracker
Status of biodiversity and nature in the Netherlands in relation to policy targets
On a regular basis reports are published about the status of biodiversity and nature in the Netherlands in relation to the targets that have been set. Some of the most recent editions of these reports: