Environmental Data Compendium, facts and figures about nature and the environment clearly presented.

Is the greenhouse effect still worsening and what are the consequences for nature? Where in the Netherlands is an accident most probable? How many animal species are there in the Netherlands and how many of them are protected? The answers to these and many other questions about nature and the environment can be found in the Environmental and Nature Data Compendium.

Information for sound decisions

Facts and figures are the basis for sound decisions in all areas. Policy decisions in which the environment and nature play a role are no exception. The Environmental and Nature Data Compendium brings together all the data about the condition of the environment and nature in the Netherlands. It also includes information about the environment and nature policy, references to other data sources and to current research.

Alliance

For many years, Statistics Netherlands, the RIVM and Wageningen University & Research Centre (Wageningen-UR) have collected data in order to help policy-makers take better decisions. In publications such as the Environment and Nature Balances from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) of the RIVM, statistics are the solid rock on which MNP bases its conclusions.

These statistics are of course also useful for policy-makers, community organisations, the press and the scientific community. Statistics Netherlands, the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency of the RIVM and Wageningen-UR have therefore got together to make these data available for a broad target sector. The Environmental and Nature Data Compendium is the fruit of this collaboration.

In 1999, Statistics Netherlands and the RIVM entered into an agreement to produce on an annual basis the Environmental Data Compendium - the environment in figures. In 2001, a similar agreement was entered into between Statistics Netherlands and the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency, in which the RIVM and the Agricultural Research Service (DLO) cooperate, for the Nature Compendium - nature in figures.

Website and book

The figures in the Environmental and Nature Data Compendium are published both on the website and periodically in book form (in Dutch). Unlike the books, that inevitably provide a snapshot of a given moment in time, the website provides the most recent data.

The Nature Compendium 2003 was first published in book form on 14 April 2003. It contains the most recent data of that moment about nature and landscape in the Netherlands. All the information in the book can also be found on this website.

In October 2001, the second and, as yet, the last full Environmental Data Compendium was published in book form. In 2004, a core set of environmental indicators was published as a book.

The acknowledgements section tells you how you can order these books.

Environmental and Nature Data Compendium website overhauled in March 2003

In March 2003, the Environmental Data Compendium and Nature Compendium websites were integrated. That means that the figures about nature and the environment are now available in a clear form at a single location. Furthermore, the navigation system has been completely revised to make it easier to find the right information.

Responsibility for the data

The institutions involved continue to be responsible themselves for the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information provided. The body or bodies responsible for the information are listed in the figures and tables.