Nature and landscape policy – ranging from international conventions and EU directives to national policy plans – aim to protect species, habitats, landscapes and rural areas. They include a great variety of measures with far-reaching consequences for society. Monitoring and evaluating the effects of these measures is therefore needed.
For this purpose, Alterra coordinates two research programmes: one to evaluate nature policy (in Dutch the WOT programma Informatievoorziening Natuur) and the other to evaluate rural policy (WOT programma ME AVP).
Stakeholders in these programmes are the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, non-governmental organisations, nature management organisations, Statistics Netherlands and the Dutch Environmental Planning Agency.
Recommendations from the two programmes are being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. Alterra is also working with this ministry to fulfil the reporting obligations associated with international and national laws and regulations and to set up a monitoring and evaluation system for the Dutch rural areas.