Plans to sell off parts of Overijssel’s nature reserves to the private sector should be halted, opposition MPs have told junior economic affairs minister Sharon Dijksma.

Pro-animal PvdD, the D66 Liberals, GroenLinks, Socialists and 50Plus all want a halt to the sale which is aimed at raising money for the treasury, the Telegraaf reported.

Dijksma told MPs she plans to press ahead with the sale of a parcel of land near Daarle which has already been announced on the internet. Only then will she discuss the results with parliament to determine if the experiment raises enough money while not impacting on the development of a national park network, the paper said.

Report

Dijksma is due to present her plans for the natural environment in May.

The sale of land is a hangover from the previous government, which decided the forestry commission should contribute millions of euros to the treasury through land sales.

Dijksma told MPs on Tuesday there could be alternatives, such as leasing land. But a tax on pesticides, as suggested by GroenLinks, is not an option because of the impact on farmers, the Telegraaf quoted the minister as saying.

Earlier stories
Forestry commission to cut 200 out of 1,000 jobs
Forestry commission to sell more trees
Public parks, reserves to be sold to raise €100m