Peatbogs, Polders and People: what we learned from visiting Natuurmonumenten

This reflection is based on a knowledge exchange between the National Trust and Natuurmonumenten, exploring shared opportunities and challenges in nature recovery, heritage stewardship, public engagement and advocacy.

The Dutch landscape stretches to what seems like an impossibly far horizon: a patchwork of water, endless sky and farmland, woodlands, towns and villages. It is a place that has been made and remade over centuries, drained, reclaimed and, in some places, deliberately returned to water.

For a group of colleagues from across the National Trust, it provided a fascinating contrast with the places we work in every day. Our group brought together a range of experiences and perspectives: from nature recovery across entire landscapes, to supporting a new future for Ironbridge, and from public engagement and participation to campaigning and influencing policy.

Yet despite the obvious differences between the Netherlands and the UK, many of the conversations felt surprisingly familiar. Whether we were talking about nature recovery, heritage, public engagement or advocacy, we kept returning to the same question: how do we create more space for nature and people in a world where competing demands on land continue to grow?

One of the most striking observations from the visit was the confidence with which our Dutch colleagues approach landscape-scale change.

In the Netherlands, intervention is often seen as part of the solution rather than something to be avoided. The country’s history has been shaped by managing land and water, and that mindset remains evident in contemporary conservation.

At De Wieden, one of north-west Europe’s largest lowland peat wetlands, we saw a dynamic landscape of lakes, reedbeds, wet meadows and swamp forests that has been shaped for centuries by peat extraction and water management. Today, Natuurmonumenten is actively restoring this landscape by reopening overgrown peat cuttings, expanding wetland habitats and creating the conditions for the characteristic peatland mosaic to renew itself. This work involves heavy machinery, close collaboration with farmers and reed cutters, and a willingness to reshape the physical landscape in order to sustain its ecological richness and resilience.

As a result, large-scale change can feel less like a departure from tradition and more like a continuation of it.  The emphasis is not on preserving every element of the landscape exactly as it is today, but on actively managing change to secure the long-term future of nature, with perhaps the healthy functioning of nature at the very heart.

For those of us working on landscape-scale nature recovery, there was much to admire in this confidence and ambition. It prompted an important reflection: if we are serious about reversing nature’s decline, we may need to be bolder and more imaginative about the changes we are prepared to make. But that also means that we should also help create a new understanding of conservation itself: in the UK, conservation is often imagined as careful, incremental, minimal intervention and hands-off. Yet restoring nature at the scale needed may require visible and transformative interventions that the public can find harder to understand.

The visit also highlighted the importance of public and political support.

The Netherlands’ ongoing nitrogen debate has brought difficult questions about land use into sharp focus. Efforts to reduce nitrogen pollution and restore protected habitats have exposed tensions between nature recovery, farming, housing and economic development. While the specifics differ from those faced in the UK, the underlying challenge is familiar. Decisions about how land is used are increasingly contested, and making space for nature requires both political leadership and public support.

It was fascinating to explore how Natuurmonumenten has responded to this challenge. The debate has reinforced the importance of helping people understand not just what changes are needed, but why they matter and how they contribute to a healthier, more resilient future. But we also saw how important the mix of diplomacy and doggedness was, and Natuurmonumenten’s willingness to engage in the political and at times heated debate with a clear eye to a more sustainable future.

That led to broader conversations about the role organisations like ours can play.

Both National Trust and Natuurmonumenten were founded by people who combined expertise with a determination to change the course of events. Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley did not simply document the threats facing special places. They organised, campaigned and built public support to protect them. In the Netherlands, Jacobus P. Thijsse and Eli Heimans helped establish Natuurmonumenten by mobilising citizens to save the Naardermeer and secure a future for nature in a rapidly changing country.

Over time, both organisations have developed deep expertise and earned public trust through evidence, rigour and long-term stewardship. In a world increasingly shaped by misinformation and polarised debate, that credibility remains one of our greatest strengths.

Yet one theme surfaced repeatedly during the visit. Faced with accelerating nature loss and climate change, expertise alone is not enough. Evidence helps us understand complex problems and craft solutions, but people are often motivated by values, emotions and stories that connect with their everyday lives.

The founders of our organisations understood how to pair authority with passion, and how to turn concern into collective action. Today’s challenge is to do the same: combining trusted expertise with compelling stories, clear messages and practical ways for people to get involved. If nature recovery is to happen at the scale required, we need institutions that are both respected experts and effective movements for change.

One of the most valuable parts of the exchange was the opportunity to compare how our organisations are helping people connect with nature and become part of the change they want to see.

We shared practical examples from across our work. The National Trust reflected on its role in supporting the People’s Plan for Nature, which brought citizens together to consider the future of nature and develop recommendations for action. In turn, colleagues from Natuurmonumenten shared plans for a new citizen panel programme, designed to explore public attitudes towards nature and how those perspectives can help shape future decisions.

At Dwingelderveld, we also saw how visitor centres can do more than provide information that inspires action. Through thoughtful interpretation and engagement, visitors were encouraged to consider simple actions they could take to help nature, connecting individual choices to wider environmental outcomes.

We also exchanged ideas about creating meaningful routes into nature, particularly for children and families. Natuurmonumenten’s hugely successful OERRR programme was a source of inspiration, showing how outdoor adventure and discovery can help build a lifelong connection with nature while also attracting new audiences. And we heard about a visitor centre they have just opened in council-owned land. An example of working in partnership and ‘beyond their borders.’ This has required different activity and operating and is helping them learn more about engaging underserved audiences on their own terms.

What emerged from these conversations was not a single model for engagement, but a shared belief that people are more likely to support nature when they feel connected to it. Whether through play, participation, deliberation or action, both organisations are exploring ways to help people move from enjoying nature to helping shape its future.

Visits like this matter because they allow us to step outside our own context and see familiar challenges through a different lens.

We returned with a renewed appreciation of the importance of ambitious landscape-scale action, the need to build broader public support for nature, and the value of combining trusted expertise with the ability to inspire people to act.

Most of all, the exchange reinforced something both organisations understand well: nature recovery is ultimately about people. It depends on the choices societies make, the partnerships we build and the public support we can inspire.

The landscapes may differ, from Dutch polders to British moorlands, coastlines and historic places, but the challenge is shared and, increasingly, so too are the solutions. And we agreed that our conversation between our two organisations will continue, well beyond the four days we spent together.