Forests in the Netherlands and Their Many Functions since the 1900s

Author(s)

  • Kristian Mennen Utrecht University
  • Wim van Meurs Radboud University Nijmegen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51769/bmgn-lchr.11697

Abstract

In European forestry, ‘sustainability’ as a key concept is centuries old. State-managed production forests and wooded landscapes for nature conservation have co-existed for a similar timespan. Incrementally, the functions of forests in the densely-populated Netherlands have shifted from timber production and economic rationales to natural beauty, biodiversity and recreation. ‘Monofunctional forests’ were gradually replaced in the 1960s by ‘multiple use’ of forests, according to which many functions may co-exist and be brought into balance in one forest area. The emergence of this idea was a significant step towards the formulation of a holistic concept of ‘sustainability’.

In de Europese bosbouw is ‘duurzaamheid’ al sinds eeuwen een sleutelbegrip. Door de staat beheerde productiebossen en beboste landschappen voor natuurbehoud hebben een vergelijkbare tijdspanne naast elkaar bestaan. Geleidelijk aan zijn de functies van bossen in het dichtbevolkte Nederland verschoven van houtproductie en economische rationaliteit naar natuurschoon, biodiversiteit en recreatie. De stap van ‘monofunctionele bossen’ naar ‘multiple use’ in de jaren zestig van de twintigste eeuw, waarbij binnen hetzelfde bosterrein meerdere functies naast elkaar kunnen bestaan en met elkaar in evenwicht moeten worden gebracht, is een relevante vernieuwing op weg naar een alomvattende invulling van ‘duurzaamheid’ als nieuw interpretatiekader.

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Author Biographies

  • Kristian Mennen, Utrecht University

    Kristian Mennen holds a PhD in history. He is an environmental historian interested in the political aspects of man’s dealing with nature and the environment. His postdoctoral research project ‘Policy-making of early nature conservation. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom compared, 1930-1960’ at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship of the European Commission. His publications include: Kristian Mennen, ‘De ‘polder’-strategie van de natuurbeschermingsbeweging in Nederland, 1930-1960’, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 134:3 (2021) 425-447. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5117/TVG2021.3.005.MENN. He is currently lecturer at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
    E-mail: k.m.mennen@uu.nl.

  • Wim van Meurs, Radboud University Nijmegen

    Wim van Meurs is professor of European political history at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. His research interests are European integration, Eastern Europe, the Second World War and environmental history. Key publications are Liesbeth van de Grift and Wim van Meurs, ‘Europeanizing Biodiversity: International Organizations as Environmental Actors’, in: Anna-Katharina Wöbse and Patrick Kupper (eds.), Greening Europe. Environmental Protection in the Long Twentieth Century – A Handbook (De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2022) 419-446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110669213-017.
    E-mail: wim.vanmeurs@ru.nl.

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Published

2022-12-22

How to Cite

Mennen, K., & van Meurs, W. (2022). Forests in the Netherlands and Their Many Functions since the 1900s. BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 137(4), 23-42. https://doi.org/10.51769/bmgn-lchr.11697