‘"God created the world except Holland. It was taken by its inhabitants from the sea'  This expression indicates why Dutch polder landscapes are so special to people from abroad. The Dutch seem to care less. Most of the Dutch prefer a tour through forest or heath lands that are very common outside the Netherlands.  The open, flat polder landscapes however are very rare within Europe. Reclaimed lakes for example can hardly be found outside the Netherlands. There is yet another fact that makes these landscapes special within Europe. Dutch were engaged as as developers, engineers and skilled workers with the reclamation of similar landscapes outside Holland.  This website describes these landscapes within The Netherlands and abroad and the policies for preservation and development.  

Typical Dutch landscapes within European context

Describe characteristics of the Dutch landscape within the international context. And distinguish the areas where these characteristics are almost undamaged. The Dutch Nature Policy Assessment Office commissioned a research to Alterra Green World Research in Wageningen to answer these questions. This study distinguishes 22 landscape types based on features that illustrate the history of these landscapes.  Such as earth forms, parcelling of agricultural land, forms of settlement, archeological sites and historical buildings. Each landscape type was evaluated according to three criteria:

1. Is the landscape typical within the Northwest European context: the percentage of a landscape type within Northwest Europe located in the Netherlands. The map below shows the results. The most important are the older reclaimed lakes, the fenland reclamations, the older sea clay landscape and the inland dunes.
2. What is the degree of degradation of the landscape: the percentage of the total area with deteriorated geomorphologic features and parcelling
3. What is the uniqueness of the landscape within the Netherlands: the percentage of the area of the landscape type within the Netherlands

Dutch landscape conservation policies

Only a few years ago nature and landscape conservationist and scientists in the Netherlands  seem to bother just as little about alluvial landscapes as Dutch people. Their preferences for Dutch landscapes were dominated by diversity in species and landscape elements that relate to recreational or esthetical values rather than their information value. During the last decade of the past century things changed. The focus on the international context made clear that the typical Dutch landscapes where those of dunes, polders, coasts and river deltas. In 1997 the First Dutch Nature Survey showed that the Dutch policies still excluded these landscapes in their protection plans. Since then opinions and policies have changed. First of all a few typical Dutch landscapes were nominated for Unesco World Heritage List by the Dutch government. Unesco acknowledges the nomination of the Beemster, Schokland, the windmills of Kinderdijk and the Defence line of Amsterdam. Other nominees are Middag-Humsterland, the Noordoost Polder and the Dutch Water defence Line. In 1996 historical geographers pleaded for the nomination of six internationally typical landscapes. They are shown on the upper map. However representatives of certain international important Dutch landscapes are still missing in the Dutch list of nominees for the World Heritage List. The absence a fen reclamations is the most obvious one. Fenland reclamations are the archetypical landscape of Holland: windmills, cows and cheese.

Walking typical Dutch landscapes

A good way to get an impression of typical Dutch landscapes is walking. Links on the map on the right lead you to walking tours with description, images and further information.

Reclaimed lakes:
Beemster
Noordoostpolder

Fenland reclamations
Lopikerwaard
Duurswold

Reclaimed tidal flats
Middag-Humsterland
Schouwen
Dollard

Floodplain reclamations
Ooijpolder
Rijnstrangen

Further reading

Danner, H.S. & H. van Duivendijk. 2000. Een nederlands watermerk op het cultureel erfgoed van de Europese Unie. Provincie Noord-Holland.

Dekker, F. 1938/1947. Voortrekkers van Oud nederland: Uit Nederland's geschiedenis buiten de grenzen. LJC Boucher, Den Haag (twee delen).

Farjon, J.M.J., J. Dirkx, A. Koomen, J. Vervloet & W. Lammers. 2001. Neder-landschap Internationaal: bouwstenen voor een selectie van gebieden landschapsbehoud. Alterra, Wageningen. Rapport 358.

Haartsen, A.J., A.P. de Klerk, J.A,J. Vervloet mmv G.J. Borger. 1996. Leven Verleden: een verkenning van de cultuurhistorische betekenis van het Nederlandse landschap. Achtergrondreeks Natuurbeleidsplan 3. SDU Den Haag.

Landschappen van wereldformaat. 1998. Historisch geografisch Tijdschrift 98.3

Natuurverkenning 97. Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid & Milieu, IKC-Natuurbeheer, DLO-Instituut voor Bos- en Natuuronderzoek, DLO-Staring Centrum. Samson HD Tjeenk Willlink, Alphen aan den Rijn.

Veen, J van. 1949. Dredge, drain, reclaim: The art of a nation. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.

Ven, G.P. van de (red.) 1993. Leefbaar laagland: geschiedenis van waterbeheersing en landaanwinning in Nederland. Matrijs, Utrecht.

Wagret, P. 1972. Polderlands. London : Methuen. 

Links

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Belvedere
Erfgoednet