The Hedwige polder in Zeeland is to be flooded to compensate for the loss of wildlife habitat stemming from deepening the Westerschelde estuary, according to Nos and RTL tv on Friday.

The news stations say MPs have accepted there is no alternative to flooding the land because efforts to find an alternative source of replacement habitats have failed. The Dutch part of the polder is about the size of 650 football pitches.
The Netherlands and Belgium agreed in 2005 to deepen the estuary to allow bigger ships to reach Antwerp port. The Netherlands’ reluctance to start dredging work and break the dykes around the Hedwige polder led to a diplomatic row between the two countries in the summer.