Commissioner Sinkevičius and Anna Heslop, ClientEarth, presenting the Reconciling interests and perceptions award to Jos Rutten from the Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos, Belgium.
About the project
- Title
Ten keys to co-ownership for nature projects
- Main applicant
Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos, De VlaamseWaterweg, GemeenteKruibeke and vzw Kruibeeks Natuurbehoud
- Category
Reconciling interests and perceptions
- Countries involved
Belgium
- Main N2000 site
Schelde-en Durmeëstuarium van de Nederlandse grens tot Gent andDurme en Middenloop van de Schelde, Belgium
Overview
The 2020 winner of the Reconciling interests and perceptions demonstrated how views on nature protection can be turned around by involving a wide group of actors in the decision-making. Accepting the prize on behalf of the partnership, Jos Rutten from the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forests in Belgium, said “the strength of our approach is that the ten keys can be applied to any project in the world where nature protection requires landscape level change. This automatically creates resistances, especially in densely populated areas such as Flanders. Our activities can be seen as a pilot project which can be applied elsewhere.”
The Kruibeke Polders lie just south of Antwerp along the River Scheldt in Belgium. Until recently, the polders were a patchwork of private plots dedicated to agriculture and forestry, holiday homes and fishponds. However, because the entire area is prone to extensive flooding, the Flemish government saw the need for major plans to stem future flood risks in the region while, at same time, using the opportunity to improve the area’s nature and recreational values.
This meant flooding parts of the area, including the Kruibeke Polders, and turning them into nature reserves. Efforts to expropriate the land in the polders were initially met with strong resistance and weekly protests were held until 2010 when the land was finally expropriated. Local people did not believe in the usefulness of the flood area and feared that their land would become inaccessible and poorly managed. The re-naturalisation of the Kruibeke polders went ahead nevertheless. 90 ha of alluvial forest and creeks - both EU protected habitats - were restored with the help of a LIFE project, to the benefit of many other species as well. But the project needed above all to engage local inhabitants in the process. After some effort, the local municipality was persuaded to become a project partner and soon evolved from being the project’s strongest opponent to becoming its biggest supporter. Much effort was put into participation and communication, organising information evenings, monthly site walks and workshops to demonstrate the values of the area to local inhabitants. New recreational opportunities were created consisting of hiking trails, fishing spots, birdwatching spots, time capsules and works of art. These activities came about through regular consultation, which helped to change people’s perceptions and behaviour, and to generate enthusiasm for co-ownership.
The area is now regarded as a tourist asset, providing additional income and jobs. Four new bed & breakfasts and a company offering tourism packages have started. A water bus from Antwerp also sails to Kruibeke bringing more and more people into the area. In the end, all key stakeholders were addressed in a bottom-up and participative manner and encouraged to become ambassadors of ‘their’ polders in order to secure a sustainable future for the area.
Presenting the Award, Anna Heslop of ClientEarth expressed her admiration for the change in attitude that had been attained through the project activities “now that the people who were opposing the conservation management are part of the group protecting the area.” The ten keys can be viewed online on the project website.
Local event
The Belgian initiative “Ten keys to co-ownership for nature projects” won the Natura 2000 Award in 2020 for Reconciling interests / perceptions for their original approach to improving nature protection by involving a wide group of actors in nature decision-making.
To mark their win, the main project organiser, Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos, held an event in the Natura 2000 site “Scheldt and Durme estuary
running from the Dutch border to Gent”, in the Polders of Kruibeke area near Antwerp in northern Belgium on 24 October 2020. The invitees included the Flemish Minister of the Environment, Zuhal Demir, as well as representatives of local authorities, project volunteers and the press.
The “10 keys to co-ownership” were directly applied during this event. For example, Minister Demir’s participation in the event – during which she joined a bike ride to visit otter holds – gives the initiative external recognition, and an informal discussion with volunteers and participants later in the day promotes the importance of investing in communication and focusing on the end result. Learn more about the 10 keys here.
