Ministry: Deleting nature reserves is not allowed by the EU

The Ministry of Agriculture quickly put an end to the idea of ​​scrapping Natura2000 areas to alleviate the nitrogen problem. Within the European Union, it is legally nailed down so much that, according to the ministry, nothing can be done about it. 

Rudy Rabbinge, emeritus professor and member of the Remkes Committee, which provides the cabinet with nitrogen advice, released a balloon on friday to remove a number of small Natura2000 areas from the list. "You can hardly maintain that these are real nature reserves." When asked whether this is possible, the answer from the ministry is clear: 'no'.

Also moving an area is not an option. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the European Court of Justice offers only 2 options to get rid of a Natura2000 area. Firstly, a scientific error must have been made when designating a Natura 2000 site. Second, the conservation goals must be unattainable, and this must not be caused by government negligence to protect the area.

None of the Dutch Natura2000 areas meet these criteria, the ministry said. However, this conclusion has led to a considerable discussion on Twitter, with many users having a different opinion than the ministry.

A question we get a lot about #approach nitrogen is whether we cannot reduce the number of nature reserves. The short answer is: no. See more information below: pic.twitter.com/j0A1JUoQpW

— Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality (@minlnv) October 19, 2019

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