Guidelines for Agricultural Area Proposal presented
Three agricultural collectives in the northern Netherlands—the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden Association, the Groningen West Collective, and the Midden-Groningen Collective—along with the relevant government agencies, have drafted the Area Proposal Guidelines. Noorderzijlvest Water Authority one of the relevant government agencies.
Guidelines for Site Quotes
The guide includes a step-by-step plan for developing a regional proposal. In such a proposal, the collective outlines the social services it can provide in the areas of agriculture, nature, the environment, water, and climate; the budget required for these services; and how governments and farmers can work together to implement them.
Contributing to the resolution of societal challenges
According to the collectives, agriculture can make a significant contribution to addressing societal challenges. Not through regulations, restrictions, and subsidies, but by acting as providers of valuable services to society. A regional proposal is a relatively new initiative and is often viewed as complicated. Yet it is an important tool. Now that agricultural stakeholders are increasingly being asked to contribute to societal challenges in their own region, a guide to developing a regional proposal offers farmers a solution.
Comprehensive exploration
Over the past six months, the three collectives from Friesland and Groningen, together with the provinces of Friesland and Groningen, Noorderzijlvest Water Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the AgroAgenda Northern Netherlands, and the Wing consultancy, conducted an extensive exploratory study. They identified the goals and challenges facing the region, such as those outlined in the National programme Areas programme . In addition, they mapped out what the agricultural sector in the region can and is willing to provide, and finally, they outlined how societal demand and local supply can be brought together. This led to the Regional Offer Guidelines.
Planting trees in hedgerows
The guideline provides a step-by-step plan for developing a locally-driven initiative—one that is accountable, binding, and beneficial to all parties. “We see significant opportunities to provide community services in the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden region . For example, we want to start planting trees in existing hedgerows to capture moreCO2 and increase biodiversity.We can alsoreduce the use of chemical fertilizers and the supply of concentrated feed, and retain more water on farmland to combat drought and salinization . With the help of the guideline, we can assess the value of these services and implement them,” says Albert van der Ploeg, chairman of the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden.
Provincial programmefor rural areas
This guideline does not finalised the process. The parties involved will now begin working to develop actual area proposals. They will also explore how these area proposals can align with the Provincial programmefor Rural Areas. The goal is to submit an initial proposal to the provinces in early 2024.