Staatsbosbeheer, the state forestry service, is looking for farmers who want to work in a nature-inclusive way in the Drentsche Aa National Park. They can apply via biedboek.nl from today up to and including Sunday 30 June.
With this call, Staatsbosbeheer wants to strengthen nature in the area and increase biodiversity. Farmers who want to encourage nature on the land they lease and on their own land are eligible.
Staatsbosbeheer leases out about forty thousand hectares of nature land, mostly grassland, to some three thousand tenants. In the Drentsche Aa area, the preference is for farmers who want to work in a nature-inclusive way: they take the natural value of the land into account in how they run their farm. In this way Staatsbosbeheer also wants to preserve the cultural landscape that farmers have shaped there over the centuries, and to give farming a sustainable economic future.
Through the applications, Staatsbosbeheer is looking for farmers who fit the management goals for the different types of nature. Those selected get a lease of up to 12 years. Farmers who meet the entry requirements also get support from Staatsbosbeheer, such as meetings of a learning network and access to Staatsbosbeheer's knowledge.
