'Plot exchange, a powerful tool for nature development'
In the November 2024 monthly newsletter of Groen Ontwikkelfonds Brabant, attention was paid to the plot swaps in De Maasheggen. Below is an integral reproduction of the article.
Land exchange, a powerful tool for nature development
Land swaps are a particularly effective way to accelerate and strengthen nature development in Brabant. This was demonstrated in 2020 by the evaluation of the area process Maasheggen, where a total of 73 hectares of land was exchanged. No less than 80 percent of this acreage is now part of the Brabant Nature Network (NNB), including the Brabant Enterprise Nature Network (ONNB). This success was reason enough for governments, manifesto parties, nature organizations and farmers in the Maasheggen to continue along this path. A few years have passed since then, but the innovative approach of that time has hardly been followed. So why does this approach find so little support in other parts of Brabant? We went to investigate.
"The strength of the area process in the Maasheggen was that we got all parties with an interest in the area at the table." Rob Christiaans, closely involved in the program as coordinator, looks back with satisfaction on the process he initiated. "We started with parcel exchanges to release land for nature, but certainly also to improve the parcelization for agriculture. Not everything came naturally. We had to deal with changing insights, unexpected obstacles and, above all, the availability of a 'land pot' for flexibility. These lessons taught us a lot. It was not just about nature; that is precisely why this form of parcel exchange, which takes into account the wishes of all involved, including certainly those of the farmers, has proved to be an extremely valuable and effective means of realizing and preserving nature."
Maasheggen: Unesco Heritage
The results speak for themselves: more than 350 hectares of land changed hands, of which 225 hectares of nature were realized. The land swap contributed not only to the restoration of the unique hedge landscape, but also to the strengthening of biodiversity and the contiguous nature structures that Brabant desperately needs. Also in a similar area process -the Hidden Raam Valley- many hectares were exchanged from owner for nature and agriculture. So why does this approach find so little replication in other parts of Brabant? "There are two reasons for this," says Mary Fiers, director of Groen Ontwikkelfonds Brabant. "First: the fragmented approach. We keep reinventing the wheel in each area. I don't really like the term 'counter', but a parcel exchange counter with expert people who have dealt with this kind of thing before would help tremendously. In addition, of course, it helps if the schemes there are also known to initiators."
There has been a parcel exchange scheme opened by the province of North Brabant since May 2022. Very little use is made of that. "We need to publicize that a bit more. We've made a great start on that now!"
