Keywords:
onshore barrier dunes
public consultation
management policy
water supply
biodiversity
management measure
Location: The Netherlands, province of North-Holland
The North-Holland Dune Reserve (NHDR)
The NHDR is owned by the province of North Holland and managed
by the NV PWN (Water Supply Company of North-Holland). It has
a total area of about 5300 ha and is situated along the North
Sea coast, northwest of Amsterdam. It extends for about 20 km
north-south and is 1.5 to 5 km wide. The reserve comprises of
about 3600 ha of open dune grasslands, 800 ha of deciduous woodlands
and 700 ha of pinewoods and is characterised by large variety
of landscapes and vegetation types. This diversity is due to its
climate, geology and soil, geomorphology, hydrological conditions,
land-use history and present-day management practises.
Since the start of formation of the North-Holland dunes at about
1000 A.D., the area has been affected by human influence. People
living in and around the area have used it for various purposes,
for example hunting, turf cutting, agricultural use, forestry
and horticultural use.
Management
The NHDR has four main functions: sea defence, nature conservation,
drinking water supply and recreation. The main task of management
is to ensure that all these functions are made possible within
the same area and to try to prevent conflicts between these different
functions. The management strategy of the reserve is based on
principles of landscape ecology, therefore the maintenance of
the natural order of processes forms the basic management strategy.
The general management objectives are: (1) management of landscape
ecological processes, (2) management of landscape patterns, (3)
external management.
Since 1965, every 5 years a management policy document is drawn
up by the PWN and presented to the Provincial Council. The management
policies are debated in standing committees and in the plenary
session of the Provincial House of Representatives. After approval,
the PWN directorate is charged with the execution of the management
policies. So far, this has to be a very successful way of getting
wide political support for management policies.
The present characteristic mosaic of 40 vegetation types in the
open dune habitat mainly was caused and is being maintained by
the grazing and burrowing activities of rabbits. Additionally,
250 ha of the rich inner dune zone grassland is managed by extensive
grazing. To prevent acidification and eutrophication blow outs
are stimulated and planting blow outs has been largely abandoned.
Furthermore management tools as mowing, turf-cutting and grazing
of live-stock are used. Long term policies to reduce contamination
with heavy metals have been enacted. Because of the falling water
table in the reserve over the past centuries the abstraction of
groundwater was reduced to less than 10 % of its peak levels in
the 1950s, with good results (see Management of wet dune slacks
in the North-Holland Dune Reserve, The Netherlands). In the case
of woodlands, management objectives changed in the early 1960s
from commercial timber production towards enhancing the natural
woodland processes.
Results
Although the NHDR covers only 0.1 % of the total surface area
of the Netherlands, it holds more than half of the Dutch vascular
plant species and is by far the richest area for epiphytic lichen
species in The Netherlands. It harbours a large number of threatened
Red Data list species. Over two-thirds of the Dutch breeding bird
species breed in the reserve. 47 birds from the Red Data list
occur in the reserve (48 in the whole country). Many other animal
species may be found too.
The NHDR is part of the so-called ‘Main Ecological Network’, which
was launched from the national government to safeguard the nature
values of the Netherlands. Besides, a designation of the dune
reserve as a Protected Nature Reserve under the national Nature
Conservation Law is being prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature and Fisheries.
References
- Korf, B. (1995): Recreation in the North-Holland Dune Reserve.
In: Drees, M. (ed.). Coastal Dunes – Recreation and Planning.
2-6. EUCC. Leiden. (BCD95).
- PWN waterleidingbedrijf & EUCC (1992): The North Holland
dune reserve. Coastline special. Coastline 1992 ½: 18-32.
(KJd),
- van der Vegte, F. (1995): The North-Holland Dune Reserve.
In: Drees, M. (ed.). Coastal Dunes – Recreation and Planning.
2-6. EUCC. Leiden. (BCD95).
