The newly opened island, one of five created in the Markermeer as part of the Netherlands-based Marker Wadden rewilding project, attracted crowds of nature lovers. By creating new habitat and improving water quality, the project is reconnecting people with wild nature and boosting biodiversity.
The innovative and ambitious Dutch restoration project becomes the network’s 54th member.
Today, Rewilding Europe warmly welcomes three sites in The Netherlands as new members of the European Rewilding Network (ERN). Natuurmonumenten, the largest nature organisation in the Netherlands, has proposed these three sites where great progress is made with rewilding. The areas are the Deelerwoud/Veluwezoom (province of Gelderland), the Drents-Friese Wold (province of Friesland and Drenthe) and the Dutch part of the Kempen~Broek (province of Limburg and Noord-Brabant), in the border area with Belgium.
The Dutch conservation organization Natuurmonumenten (Dutch Society for the Protection of Nature, 1905), with a staggering number of 735,000 members, 150.000 young members (of the OERRR initiative, 2012) and managing some 345 nature reserves covering over 101,000 hectares in The Netherlands, recently published a survey on the attitude of Dutch people towards wildlife in its country. Some 40,000 people participated in the survey showing a clear and positive attitude towards wildlife, wildlife comeback and more space for wild nature and wildlife.