Letter to Christianne van der Wal

The opinion articles about and since the letters of June 10 are falling over each other. One stronger than the other, but all do not help them to progress. So I don't feel the need to write anything again about what I think of it. That's why I prefer to give advice. Advice that can lead to something.

Dear Mrs. Van der Wal, dear Christianne,

On January 10, you were installed as the Prime Minister for Nature & Nitrogen. A new portfolio, to take the Netherlands off the 'nitrogen lock' again from this special position. You have started in good spirits. Exactly five months after your appointment, you sent a letter in which you indicated how you thought you would get the Netherlands going again. However, your approach received little applause. Initially, agriculture, industry and builders draw a line, 'we are not collaborating on this'. Followed by various chain parties that should help shape the transition, which your colleague Staghouwer also mentions in his letter. But perhaps the biggest downer is one province after another that indicates that it does not support your plans.

That is your ambition to 'no longer need a Nature & Nitrogen portfolio by 2030 when the Netherlands', because then nature would have been robustly restored. 21 days after your installation, we had an introductory meeting in a small committee. Even then I warned you that with your approach this ambition would be an illusion. I also advised you to choose a different route. And you can still do that. You can still become the heroine of the Netherlands by getting our beautiful, innovative and ambitious country up and running again. That we can build, fly, farm and recreate again with nature blooming and flourishing.

You hold that key. You, as Minister for Nature & Nitrogen. You, in particular, can break pots in Europe, because you do not come there as a minister of agriculture, or industry, mobility or aviation, but as a minister for Nature & Nitrogen. I already mentioned at the time that nature does not benefit from Critical Deposition Values ​​(KDWs), but from favorable living conditions. And that is much more than a low nitrogen deposition. Various studies and reports endorse this, you know them. All you need to do to become the heroine of the Netherlands, both for economy and nature, is to book a trip to Brussels. And there to convince the European Commission of a Dutch approach that is not based on CDWs, but on actually implementing the right management, creating favorable living conditions and monitoring the actual state of nature. Factual and measurable. And I assure you, if you succeed in this, you will be the heroine for the Dutch nature and economy and your portfolio can actually be closed in 2030.

I would like to add to you, after hearing the contribution of your colleague Mrs. Schreinemacher in the WNL broadcast of June 19, 2022, that deliberately depriving the world of part of its food supply resembles committing a war crime. Now it is of course not a war in the Netherlands, but the policy that you and your colleague Staghouwer advocate do contribute to reducing the availability of high-quality and safe food. We don't have to feed the world from the Netherlands, but it would be nice if we could continue to take our responsibility and do our bit from one of the most productive deltas in the world.

You are smart enough to understand this.

It is up to you whether you also want to show the will to really take the Netherlands off the 'nitrogen lock'. The choice is yours.

Sincerely,

Stefan Te Selle

Stefan te Selle is a dairy farmer in Gelderland and chairman of LTO region Oost Achterhoek.

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