Agrarian nature management: management agreements concluded (by province)
Management agreements have been concluded for some 60% of the potential area suitable for agrarian nature management.
Current situation
On average, 62% (expressed in area) of the provincial quotas for management agreements have been met. In Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland, more than 80% of the area concerned is now subject to management agreements. In the provinces of Overijssel and Noord-Brabant, this applies to less than half.
The provinces are therefore not meeting their quotas for agrarian nature management agreements. This is because there is a ceiling for the available budget. The target in fact applies for 2020.
The total area for which agrarian nature management agreements can be concluded is approximately 117 000 hectares. The size of the areas involved ranges from 500 hectares in Flevoland to 22 000 hectares in Friesland.
Policy objectives
The objective of concluding agrarian nature management agreements is to increase the "nature quality" of rural areas. The target for the total area managed in that way is 135 000 hectares, with 117 000 hectares being currently reserved. Each of the provinces has been allocated an area quota for concluding agrarian nature management agreements. These management packages form part of the Management Programme run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
Technical note
In the figure, the quotas per province have been set at 100%. The total for all the provinces comes to 117 000 hectares. The information on the management agreements that have been concluded comes from the National Schemes Service (Landelijke Service bij Regelingen, LASER). These agreements relate to both the old Management Agreements and Nature Development scheme (Beheersovereenkomsten en Natuurontwikkeling, RBON) and the new subsidy scheme for agrarian nature management within the Ministry's Management Programme. More than 50% of the area subject to agrarian nature management currently falls within RBON. The quota for agrarian nature management agreements was reported orally by the provinces (reference date 31 December 2001).
References
- Reference Sanders, M.E. (2002). Beleidsevaluatie Agrarische natuurbeheer. Voortgang, knelpunten en effectiviteit. Werkdocument 2002/03 Natuurplanbureau. Wageningen.
