Background Farmland
'Do not lease for nature where agriculture is secondary'
That a farmer - as the name suggests - plays a role in managing the Dutch landscape in addition to producing food is clear. Even nature organisations (TBOs in jargon) use the services of farmers. According to the Association of Land Leaseholders and Own Land Users (BLHB), this is where the problem lies. For nature organisations, leasing land seems to be a profit model, while the tenant effectively does the management and is not rewarded for it.
The basis of the lease legislation is the regulation of agricultural land use. Various nature organisations choose to lease land with the main destination and development 'nature', but with the possibility of agricultural co-use via liberalised lease to the highest bidder. The lease price is free (so not bound to the regional standards of regular lease) and the nature clubs can impose far-reaching conditions on agricultural use. Nature organisations eat from two plates. They receive the free lease price and the management fees for nature and landscape (SNL) according to the BLHB. In addition, according to the association, agreements are often made between the tenant and the lessor about the premiums from the CAP, which in many cases are not unfavourable for the lessors.
Services
"In the joint proposals for the adjustment of the lease regulation, FPG, LTO, BLHB and NAJK introduced the nature lease form. This was a helping hand, but the nature organisations are opposed to restricting the liberalised lease and therefore also the nature lease form: they see the proposals as an adjustment of their revenue model", writes the BLHB. You could even argue for keeping nature management completely outside the lease legislation. "In fact, in the case of nature lease, the agricultural sector carries out the nature management. There is much to be said for seeing this as a service activity. After all, both parties conclude an agreement in which the management of nature is regulated. It is then important that the farmers receive the contributions for nature management."
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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