Foodlog Café @WFC What will nature management be after nitrogen reduction?

For years, the Dutch nature debate has been dominated by nitrogen reduction. Rightly so, because the nitrogen pressure on nature reserves is high and must be reduced. But nature hasn't recovered yet. In many areas, soils are now so acidified and emaciated that less nitrogen alone is not enough.

This is where the next phase of nature policy begins: management, conservation and restoration.

In this series, we investigate what is needed for this. What additional measures can really kick-start nature restoration? What role can highly targeted forms of fertilization play? How careful should you be when it comes to such interventions in large ecological systems? And how do you monitor whether what you're doing actually works?

We talk about recent practical experiences, new recovery strategies and the question of how the Netherlands can develop nature policy that is not only legally defensible but also has an ecological effect.

The relationship with the Habitats Directive is also central. Because if lost or weakened biotopes have to be resettled, the question is inevitable: what starting situation are we actually assuming? And what does it mean if the road to recovery is not only through nitrogen reduction, but also through active soil and nature restoration?

This series is about the most difficult and important question of the moment: how do we show that we are doing what we can to really restore nature?

At the Foodlog Café @WFC on Thursday, May 7, 2026, we will discuss these questions with the alderman of the Municipality of Ede and the driver of the Veluwe approach Jan Pieter van der Schans.