Amsterdam is home to almost 140 plant and animal species which are on the government’s red list of species in need of special protection, news agency ANP reported at the weekend.

The average Dutch local authority is home to around 70 threatened species while Bergen in Noord-Holland has the most – 325.
‘Amsterdam is becoming the nature reserve of the Netherlands,’ city ecologist Remco Daalder told the news agency. While the Dutch landscape is becoming more uniform, Amsterdam ‘has lots of different landscapes, from swamps and different types of woodland to parks and rough ground,’ he said.
For example, one of the country’s biggest populations of grass snakes (Natrix natrix) is found close to the IJburg residential developments while birds are being encouraged by the widespread use of nesting boxes, Daalder said.