Trouw: Committee imposes new departure for Oostvaardersplassen

Things are about to change in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve. Chris Kalden, director of the Dutch forestry commission Staatsbosbeheer looks back on ‘an emotional debate that didn’t leave any room for rational discussion’. Trouw interviewed him.

Dzsingisz Gabor, chairman of the government committee that evaluated the management of the nature reserve, has stated that the suffering of the big grazers in the reserve is ‘absolutely unacceptable’. Where did it all go wrong?
‘I don’t understand the statement. There certainly isn’t anything in his report to support it. The population of grazers in the area has been stable for years: as many animals die as are born each year, about 20 to 30 percent of the total number. We shoot the animals according to government controlled rules.’
The report says the animals in the Oostvaardersplassen aren’t worse off than animals in similar eco systems but Gabor is critical about the peak in the number of animals that are dying in winter. He recommends an important investment in shelters. The committee’s main finding is that shelter is key.
‘Gabor is right in saying we could have paid more attention to the issue of shelter. I’m clear about that.’
Do you feel responsible?
‘Certainly.’
But how could it be allowed to happen?
‘We were planning to use the adjoining woods in Hollandse Hout as a shelter but we haven’t been able to get permission from Lelystad city council. It could perhaps be said we didn’t try hard enough but these things take time. We did have an opportunity of using the Oostvaardersbos but that area is open to the public.
I recognise now that we have been too careful. We thought we couldn’t risk a confrontation between people and big mammals. I’m conscious of the fact we need shelter and the report doesn’t mince words. The previous Gabor report said the same in 2006, it’s true. We underestimated the sense of urgency at the time.’
Haven’t events this winter and the debate that followed not been enough of a wake up call?
‘Yes, and the report confirms it. Gabor has taken a huge step forward compared to the last report. The animals behave naturally, he writes, but they are not wild. They are at a stage between wild and farmed animals. That conclusion opens the way to a different sort of animal care. In his last report the animals were still wild according to Gabor, and a judge confirmed it. For years that determined the way we treated the animals. We left them in peace, made sure they weren’t disturbed and they were shot in the final phase of their lives.
The new definition leaves room for more intervention in the animals’ environment and allows us to care for them on an individual basis. That is a completely new departure.’
Your management of the Oostvaardersplassen is to be monitored by a committee whose advice will be binding. Are you being sidelined?
‘I don’t think so although some people at Staatsbosbeheer feel that we are. Let me tell you what has kept me awake during the years. It was the incredibly emotional debate about this question which left no room for a rational discussion of the facts. I felt powerless because that debate paralysed us completely. As Staatsbosbeheer it is in our interest to discuss the rights and wrongs of what is happening in the Oostvaardersplassen. The committee will be an excellent platform for a discussion that will take in public feeling and scientific insights. I hope the committee will stabilise the debate. We will certainly use any advice it will offer.’

That is not up to you, You have no choice but to use it. The committee is going to tell you what to do.
‘That’s right but I take it that the committee members’ advice will be well founded. I’m looking forward to it.’
Junior minister Bleker said the Gabor report felt like a new start and that the experiment of the Oostvaardersplassen is now at an end. How does that make you feel? After all, it was your baby.
‘I object to the word ‘experiment’. Thirty years of consistent management does not constitute an experiment. I think it’s a strange word to use. Bleker wants the management of the grazers to change fundamentally and that is understandable. Grazers play a role in the maintenance of the grassy vegetation that sustains the goose population which in its turn greatly influences the wetlands. That eco system is stable and will essentially stay the same.’

Have you underestimated the public debate? It was much more vehement than you thought, wasn’t it?
‘Yes. In the Oostvaardersplassen the circle of life is visible in all its glory. In this country we don’t like to look too closely. Procreation and birth are ok but we close out eyes to death. Every year thousands of deer die in similar circumstances to the ones in the Oostvaardersplassen but the difference is that in the woods you can’t see them.
This is an unofficial translation