Natural Processes in the Netherlands and Beyond

There is a great hunger for practical knowledge about rewilding. Not only in the Netherlands, but also abroad. Landowners who want to manage their land differently, young people, policy makers, journalists and employees of partner organisations: more and more people realise that we must do everything we can to restore nature on a landscape scale, that we would do better to work with nature rather than against it, that nature shows an enormous resilience when allowed to take its course, and that it is vitally important for nature to be able to adapt to the rapid changes in the biosphere.

There was no book yet that specifically addressed the natural processes important for rewilding practices in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries. That is why Leo Linnartz wrote this book. For anyone who wants to know more about the levers you can pull, inside and outside the Netherlands, to help nature restore itself to rich, self-regulating ecosystems.

Foreword   5

1. Introduction   9
      1.1 History of current biodiversity   9
      1.2 Nature conservation, nature restoration and rewilding   10
      1.3 Natural processes   12
2. Landscapes and their natural processes   17
      2.1 Delta area and coast   17
            Estuaries   18
            Shifting dunes   20
            Freshwater tidal area   22
      2.2 Rivers   23
            Meandering   23
            Riparian woodland   25
            Beavers   26
      2.3 Bogs in the west and north of the Netherlands   29
            Two centuries of storms, two centuries of calm   29
            A new river mouth into the sea   30
            Old channels silted up   30
            Fens became raised bogs   30
            Deep lakes   31
            Brackish tidal marsh   31
            Freshwater tidal marsh   32
            River fen   33
            Peat   33
            The role of humans   34
            From then to now   35
      2.4 High sandy soils, small river valleys and raised bogs   35
            Fire   36
            Storm   40
            Drought   41
            Insect pests and plant diseases   44
            Soil disturbance and trampling   46
            Mineral cycles   50
      2.5 Hilly landscape   53
3. Towards a more natural system   57
      3.1 Restoring water management   57
      3.2 Enlarging and defragmenting   60
      3.3 Forest transformation   61
      3.4 Natural grazing   66
            Natural herbivores   67
            Every species is different   71
            Predation   73
            The circle of life   74
            Social herds   75
            Bull pits   77
            Stallion latrines   78
            Free migration   78
4. Implementation aspects   83
      4.1 Preparation   83
      4.2 Grazing   84
      4.3 Risks of delay   86
      4.4 From small to large   86
      4.5 Enclaves   88
      4.6 Processes with human interference   88
      4.7 Decomposition processes   90
5. Bottlenecks   93
      5.1 Herbivores and recreation   93
      5.2 Herbivores and fences   94
      5.3 Invasive species   95
      5.4 Burdock and ragwort   97
      5.5 Social acceptance   98
      5.6 Other bottlenecks   99
6. Getting started   103
      6.1 Turning nature on   103
            Biotic defects   104
            Abiotic defects   104
      6.2 Finding the balance   104

Acknowledgements   113
Bibliography   115