The Netherlands’ Approach to Landscape Management and Biodiversity Finance

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Summary (50–75 words)
The Netherlands is advancing its 30×30 commitments through spatial expansion, ecological connectivity, and innovative biodiversity financing. Approximately 23 percent of land and inland waters are already protected or designated for protection, with plans to add 150,000 hectares to meet the 30 percent target. Efforts combine national planning under the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the National Biodiversity Finance Plan, and innovative funding mechanisms supporting both protected areas and landscape-scale conservation.

Nature, Landscapes, and Finance in the Netherlands

The Netherlands’ 30×30 implementation builds on a mature conservation system anchored in the EU Biodiversity Strategy and its National Nature Network (Natuurnetwerk Nederland). Currently, about 23 percent of terrestrial and inland waters are under protection or formally designated for protection through Natura 2000, national parks, and reserves. Achieving the 30 percent benchmark will require designating approximately 150,000 additional hectares. To guide this expansion, the government emphasizes spatial planning, ecological coherence, and alignment between biodiversity and land-use objectives.

The country’s conservation strategy integrates connectivity and multi-functional landscapes. The National Nature Network links fragmented habitats across provinces to enhance species mobility and climate resilience. Beyond formal protected areas, the Netherlands is exploring Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) by incentivizing nature-positive land use on agricultural and privately owned lands. This approach complements statutory protections by rewarding biodiversity outcomes across production landscapes.

Financial innovation is another pillar of the Netherlands’ 30×30 strategy. Under Target 19(b) of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the country is developing one of Europe’s first National Biodiversity Finance Plans (NBFPs), in collaboration with Belgium, Finland, and Luxembourg. The plan follows the UNDP–BIOFIN framework and includes a policy and institutional review, biodiversity expenditure analysis, financial needs assessment, and a national biodiversity finance strategy. It supports the forthcoming Nature Restoration Plan and promotes a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.

At the site level, national parks are experimenting with diverse funding models. Examples include visitor-based revenues (entrance and parking fees at De Hoge Veluwe National Park), hospitality-linked contributions (Drentsche Aa Area Fund), and local product sales or activity licenses (Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park). These illustrate scalable approaches to mobilizing domestic resources for conservation and community engagement.

Outcomes and Lessons

The Netherlands’ experience highlights how financial innovation, integrated landscape planning, and stakeholder participation can advance biodiversity targets in a densely populated country. The NBFP process demonstrates a systematic effort to align public and private financing with conservation goals, while park-level funding models show practical means of sustaining management and visitor engagement. Key lessons include the importance of diversified financing, policy coherence across sectors, and embedding biodiversity within agricultural and regional planning frameworks. The iterative, data-driven NBFP process and alignment with the EU Nature Restoration Regulation offer a replicable model for high-income countries seeking to operationalize 30×30 commitments through finance and governance reform.