Gelderse Poort, Netherlands

The Gelderse Poort is located where the river Rhine branches out into the rivers Waal, Lower Rhine and IJssel. For many years the landscape was dominated by intensively farmed fields. The region was an important site for clay mining, which provided materials for the local brick industry. The floodplains were also cultivated, but regular flooding rendered the farmers unable to intensify their activities and compete on the international market. Inhabitants of the nearby towns and cities such as Arnhem, Nijmegen and Emmerich were confronted with a higher risk of severe floods, raising public awareness of the floodplain’s decreasing capacity.

WWF, the NGO Ark Nature and the governmental nature management organisation Staatsbosbeheer started working in Gelderse Poort around 15 years ago. Since then the floodplain area has been transformed, and both nature and the local economy are booming. Now, it is increasingly seen as the “green lung” at the heart of this economically important region.

Building with Bricks is Building with Nature
During the 1980s, as the area became better known for its natural values, new clay mining projects were faced with growing opposition from environmental groups and the industry’s future looked bleak. WWF Netherlands saw that far from damaging the landscape, clay mining could actually be used to restore the old riverine landscape, benefit nature and contribute to flood prevention. In collaboration with local people, they set up partnerships which, they hoped, would be good for industry, farmers and nature alike. In the early 1990s, a 600 ha pilot area was set up to test the theory.

WWF encouraged the farmers near the river to sell their land to the clay mining industry, and use the money to buy better, more profitable land behind the dykes, away from the floods. The brick companies then extracted the clay from the riverbanks, increasing the river’s water retention capacity and restoring the old riverbeds in the process. Once the clay was extracted, industry moved out and nature soon moved in, creating a new landscape of river dunes, forests and open grasslands. The project injected new life into the clay mining industry; opposition to its activities fell and its bricks are now used with pride in construction projects in the surrounding cities.

Similar schemes were soon springing up across the region. Prompted by serious floods in 1993 and 1995, the local authorities also gave their full support to the project.

Developing Tourism and Infrastructure
Thanks to a strong marketing campaign by WWF Netherlands, Gelderse Poort’s fame spread. Tourists began to arrive, attracted by the prospect of an area of wilderness in the heart of an otherwise densely populated area. The local authorities started investing more in local infrastructure – bus services were restored and new tourist ferries started operating. A brochure was produced with a map of the region showing foot and cycle paths, and vouchers for some of the nearby cafés and hotels.

Existing hotels, restaurants and cafés were revived and new ones opened, creating job opportunities and bringing much needed income into the region. In 2001, Ark Nature purchased a café at the entrance to the original project site. At the ‘Wilderness Café’, the food and drinks served are sourced largely from the Gelderse Poort area, and the bartender, who is also an ecologist, provides visitors with the latest nature information from the region. Many guided tours start here, and the café is often the venue for local events and festivities.

Wild horses
Early on in the project, Ark Nature and Staatsbosbeheer embarked on a natural grazing scheme, introducing a few Konik horses and Galloway cattle in one of the restored nature areas by the river. Today hundreds of these animals roam the floodplain between Millingen and Nijmegen, where their grazing helps to keep the landscape open. The project is almost entirely self-supporting, with income being generated by the natural growth of the herds. Part of the surplus stock is destined for sale as “wilderness meat” which is sold in the Wilderness Café, through the internet and via other channels. The rest of the surplus is sold live to similar projects around the world.

The Future
The successes enjoyed by the project have taught local people to look at their world through different eyes. The many tourists show farmers that the landscape they work in is much more than a production field. This has stimulated farmers to think along new lines about the future of their land and income. Together with WWF and Ark Nature, they recently started an initiative, called ‘Food for Nature’, to look into how a balance between agricultural production and landscape values may be guaranteed on the land behind the dykes as well.