12.5 Awareness on Nature Effects of Drought
and the Public and Political Agenda
While nature protection not always directly affects human purposes, the awareness
of threats to the integrity of the natural areas as ecosystems is not always
self-evident. Sometimes the areas superficially look as nice as ever, even while
droughts have undermined their viability.
In the higher sandy parts of Flanders that are dependent on groundwater and rain,
drought-sensitive nature areas no doubt suffer from periods of desiccation, like adjacent
areas in the Netherlands. However, it is remarkable how little attention this gets in
Flanders. This phenomenon is highlighted in the Flemish Environment Report site
(www.milieurapport.be—June 2015). The report does not mention nature effects of
drought at all. While the Institute for Nature and Forest Research does give mention of its
“nature indicators” with drought impacts as a keyword on its site (www.
natuurindicatoren.be—June 2015), there is a lack of content on the specific impacts. In
light of this, the fact that the Flemish Environment Agency, as part of DROP, is considering nature protection as one of the goals of drought adaptation is big advancement.
The Velpe and Dommel sub-pilots are within this drought-sensitive area.
However, the activities there were more attuned to the impacts of agriculture (soil
moisture) and calibration of the models. In the ongoing discussions on
drought-related issues, environmental NGOs find it difficult to make their voices
heard, due to the focus on agriculture and economic development.
While drought awareness is low in the Eifel-Rur area, drought can sometimes
“piggy back” on more mainstream issues. For instance, protection of fish populations requires minimal water levels during periods of relative water scarcity which
is also indirectly relevant to addressing drought. It is also a good objective for the
national park authorities. Nature conservation groups, and to a lesser extent agriculture, are beginning to view the negative water balance during dry summers as a
problem that needs to be addressed.
In the region of Groot Salland, most attention is focused on flood risk rather than
drought. Still it would be unfair to state that drought risks are completely out of
scope. In the 1980s, the Netherlands, established the term “desiccation of nature
areas” as one of the “environmental themes”. That said, despite this, very little was
done to solve the problem in practice. Drought effects on nature remained a “soft”
interest. When irrigation bans are issued in times of drought (often both for agriculture and garden watering) these measures have sufficient legitimacy. However,
the relation with nature protection is not clear to the public in this case. Under the
new irrigation policy, making sure that there is enough recharge of ground water
levels quickly became a co-responsibility among farmers.
While drought effects on nature are not a big issue in Vilaine, nature protection
as such is indeed an issue. A nature NGO named “Vivre les Marais” is promoting
the responsible care for the Vilaine and Redon Natura 2000 wetlands. There is also
a Natura 2000 plan for this in the works. The nature NGOs are involved in consultations, for example concerning the Water Plan. However, the NGOs involved
240
H. Bressers and U. Stein
and the Public and Political Agenda
While nature protection not always directly affects human purposes, the awareness
of threats to the integrity of the natural areas as ecosystems is not always
self-evident. Sometimes the areas superficially look as nice as ever, even while
droughts have undermined their viability.
In the higher sandy parts of Flanders that are dependent on groundwater and rain,
drought-sensitive nature areas no doubt suffer from periods of desiccation, like adjacent
areas in the Netherlands. However, it is remarkable how little attention this gets in
Flanders. This phenomenon is highlighted in the Flemish Environment Report site
(www.milieurapport.be—June 2015). The report does not mention nature effects of
drought at all. While the Institute for Nature and Forest Research does give mention of its
“nature indicators” with drought impacts as a keyword on its site (www.
natuurindicatoren.be—June 2015), there is a lack of content on the specific impacts. In
light of this, the fact that the Flemish Environment Agency, as part of DROP, is considering nature protection as one of the goals of drought adaptation is big advancement.
The Velpe and Dommel sub-pilots are within this drought-sensitive area.
However, the activities there were more attuned to the impacts of agriculture (soil
moisture) and calibration of the models. In the ongoing discussions on
drought-related issues, environmental NGOs find it difficult to make their voices
heard, due to the focus on agriculture and economic development.
While drought awareness is low in the Eifel-Rur area, drought can sometimes
“piggy back” on more mainstream issues. For instance, protection of fish populations requires minimal water levels during periods of relative water scarcity which
is also indirectly relevant to addressing drought. It is also a good objective for the
national park authorities. Nature conservation groups, and to a lesser extent agriculture, are beginning to view the negative water balance during dry summers as a
problem that needs to be addressed.
In the region of Groot Salland, most attention is focused on flood risk rather than
drought. Still it would be unfair to state that drought risks are completely out of
scope. In the 1980s, the Netherlands, established the term “desiccation of nature
areas” as one of the “environmental themes”. That said, despite this, very little was
done to solve the problem in practice. Drought effects on nature remained a “soft”
interest. When irrigation bans are issued in times of drought (often both for agriculture and garden watering) these measures have sufficient legitimacy. However,
the relation with nature protection is not clear to the public in this case. Under the
new irrigation policy, making sure that there is enough recharge of ground water
levels quickly became a co-responsibility among farmers.
While drought effects on nature are not a big issue in Vilaine, nature protection
as such is indeed an issue. A nature NGO named “Vivre les Marais” is promoting
the responsible care for the Vilaine and Redon Natura 2000 wetlands. There is also
a Natura 2000 plan for this in the works. The nature NGOs are involved in consultations, for example concerning the Water Plan. However, the NGOs involved
240
H. Bressers and U. Stein