National ‘Forest Agent’

Forest for the Future
In the Dutch National Forest Strategy released in November 2020, the ambition was set to increase the forest area in the Netherlands by 10% by 2030. The forest expansion is intended to contribute to national biodiversity and climate goals. Achieving this target is not a given—it requires land and funding. There are many initiatives to realise forest expansion, ranging from small private efforts to large corporations seeking to reduce their ecological footprint. Yet, landowners and funders who wish to plant forests and trees often struggle to find each other. Moreover, forest expansion involves a range of spatial planning and legal processes.

There is a need for an intermediary—an entity that could bridge the gap between funding and land, knowledge and expertise, government and private actors. That is why Stichting Probos, together with Stichting De Lynx, established the National Forest Agent (‘Nationale Bossenmakelaar’).

The National Forest Agent is here to:

1. Match supply and demand: Connect landowners who wish to plant forests with those who offer funding, expertise, knowledge, and/or materials.
2. Share knowledge: Provide information on topics such as regulations and permits, expected costs for forest planting and management, depreciation of land value, and the technical aspects of afforestation. The National Forest Agent acts as a helpdesk and shares inspiring best practices. Therese are a.o. published on the dedicated website of the National Forest Agent.
3. Identify and raise issues: Highlight obstacles in legislation, procedures, and financing and bring them to the attention of ministries, provinces, and other stakeholders involved in implementing the National Forest Strategy.

In short, the Forest Agent helps to solve problems for pioneers.

The National Forest Agent works closely with provincial policy officers of regional forest expansion. Current focus areas of the National Forest Agent include:

• Providing an up-to-date overview of available provincial subsidy schemes for new forests and trees on its website, along with a list of organizations that offer different forms of financial support.
• Establishing a national working group or learning network, ‘Accelerating the implementation of the National Forest Strategy’, in collaboration with municipalities.
• Developing the brochure ‘Archaeology and Forest Expansion’ and organizing a knowledge session on this topic.
• Advancing knowledge on spontaneous forest expansion in cooperation with ARK and Staatsbosbeheer.

Visit the National Forest Agent website, or contact us via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Information

Expert(s): Nienke Welle, Gryanne Hamming (Stichting Probos) en Rianne Doller (Communicatiebureau de Lynx)
Client(s): Ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur (LVVN)
Year: 2023-2025