The National Ecological Network matches well with Natura 2000, the European network of wildlife areas. But there are some differences in the protection regimes.

NEN and Natura 2000 complement each other

The National Ecological Network (NEN) is the backbone of Dutch nature policy, the main thrust of which has been consistent since 1990. The provincial councils have now been given a bigger role and more attention is paid to on-farm conservation and wildlife and landscape management by private landowners. However, the creation of ‘new nature’ has fallen behind schedule. Completion of the necessary landscape works is a particular cause of delay, but in recent years the acquisition of land has also slowed right down. European policies now have a greater influence on Dutch nature policy. With the designation of the Dutch protected areas under the Birds and Habitats Directives, the European Natura 2000 network of protected areas is gradually taking shape. These areas closely match those in the Dutch National Ecological Network.
Virtually the whole strip of coastal dunes is a designated Natura 2000 protected area (photo: Jan van der Straaten, Saxifraga).H7duinsaxi…
The national NEN policy and the European Natura 2000 policy complement each other, although the Natura 2000 protection regime is different from the NEN regime. Both the Birds and Habitats Directives are geared much more to protecting plant and animal species and specific landscape types. They give the Netherlands an international responsibility for wildlife habitats such as wetlands and dunes. The NEN is geared more to creating a green buffer with better land use and environmental conditions for habitats and wildlife.

The Natura 2000 areas lie almost entirely within the National Ecological Network (NEN).

Back to Nature Balance 2006          Land use and environmental conditions