Dune, Horst & Meadow
Innovative ideas for our valuable cultural landscape
Duin Horst & Weide is a unique cultural landscape. This rural area is a green buffer and lies in the middle of the urban network of The Hague and Leiden. The variety of landscapes with dunes, country estates and meadow areas is popular with its inhabitants and recreationists. Duin Horst & Weide has the highest biodiversity of our country; a special succession of beautiful landscapes with its own rich cultural history.
Developments
There are all kinds of challenges for the area: housing development, nitrogen precipitation, climate adaptation and subsidence. Energy transition and agricultural transition require space and a different use of our living environment. What opportunities do these developments offer to preserve and strengthen the unique values of Duin Horst & Weide?
Gathering innovative ideas
The Landscape Table Dune Horst & Weide in 2024 invited organizations in the region to share their ideas for a future-proof Dune Horst & Weide. By collecting innovative ideas and good examples, residents, recreationists, farmers and other users want to encourage keeping the area attractive for everyone.
Project 'Towards a future-proof sustainable cultural landscape'
Duin Horst & Weide's project 'Towards a future-proof sustainable man-made landscape' Map what the future may look like, taking into account all kinds of challenges for the largely agricultural area. What is the impact of the major social tasks, such as housing construction, biodiversity, agricultural and energy transition, nitrogen, climate adaptation and mitigation for the green cultural landscape?
In early 2025, the jointly prepared, updated future picture with action perspective will be published. Landowners, such as farmers, estate owners and private individuals will be given tools to get started. The 'Course document future-proof sustainable cultural landscape DHW' can be a building block for the Environmental Vision.
Landscape Table Dune Horst & Meadow
In it, the municipalities of Wassenaar, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Voorschoten, Leiden, Katwijk, Zoetermeer and The Hague work together with civil society organizations, site managers, private partners and National Park Hollandse Duinen to create an "authentic, vital and experienceable" rural area. Contact us at: erfgoed@wassenaar.nl.
14 parties sign: working together more robustly for Duin Horst & Weide
December 12, 2024
Last week 14 parties signed the cooperation agreement Landscape Table Dune, Horst & Meadow and the 2024-2028 implementation program. In doing so, they declared their intention to jointly protect and strengthen the rural area that runs from the coast and the dunes near Wassenaar (Dune), via the landgoederenzone (Horst) towards the Vlietzone and the peat meadow area near Stompwijk and Zoetermeer (Meadow).
Wim Koetsier, Alderman Space, Mobility and Sustainability Municipality of Wassenaar: 'Wassenaar lies at the heart of this unique area with many challenges. Think of water quality improvement, restoration of nature, adding meadow bird areas and a sustainable future for our farmers. Only by working together with surrounding municipalities can we protect and strengthen the area as much as possible. That is good for our current residents and for future generations.
"Alone you go faster, together you get further" is therefore the slogan of the 2024-2028 Implementation Program. Cooperation is important for the realization of projects and the achievement of joint goals in the areas of recreation, nature and landscape enhancement. The projects in the Implementation Program focus on:
- A healthy, vital landscape: strengthening nature by connecting areas, improving biodiversity (the variety of plants and animals) and water quality, and considering climate change and preserving clean drinking water in projects.
- An authentic landscape: preserving the typical features of the dunes, the horsts and the peat meadow area and encouraging and facilitating new forms of agriculture that are better for the environment (which emit less nitrogen, among other things) and water quality.
- An experienceable landscape: allowing people to enjoy nature while protecting fragile wildlife, for example by providing more access points / park gates and better routes for walking, biking and boating.
Cooperation in the Landscape Table
In the Landscape Table Duin Horst & Weide, six municipalities (Leidschendam-Voorburg, Leiden, Wassenaar, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Voorschoten) and various other parties, such as Stichting Duivenvoorde, Staatsbosbeheer, Dunea, Erfgoedhuis Zuid-Holland and ANWB, work together. The chair is the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg.
Duin Horst & Weide: a unique area in National Park Dutch Dunes
Duin Horst & Weide is the open green landscape between the region of The Hague and Leiden. This unique area has three types of landscapes: the dunes along the coast near Scheveningen-Wassenaar-Katwijk, the horst between Wassenaar and Voorschoten and the meadow between Leidschendam-Voorburg and Zoetermeer. In the area are icons such as Meijendel nature reserve, Duivenvoorde Castle, the Nieuwe Driemanspolder, Vogelplas Starrevaart and the Molendriegang near Stompwijk.
Duin Horst & Weide is the most prominent subarea of National Park Hollandse Duinen (NPHD) which covers the wide coastal area of South Holland from Hoek van Holland to Hillegom. Due to its tranquility, space, biodiversity, villages, cities, work and culture, NPHD is a particularly valuable area for plants, animals and people. More than 60 area partners, including the parties of Duin Horst & Weide, join forces and make a strong commitment to the future of this area. Together they are realizing a sustainable and resilient national park.
Learn more
You can read the 2024-2028 Implementation Program at www.nationaalparkhollandseduinen.nl.
Future image of cultural landscape Duin Horst & Weide adopted by landscape table
April 18, 2025
Along with five regional municipalities and organizations such as the Rijnland Water Board, Dunea and ANWB, the municipality of Wassenaar is part of the Duin Horst & Weide landscape table. The cooperating parties are committed to protecting and strengthening the qualities of the rural area that runs from the coast and the dunes near Wassenaar (Dune), via the landgoederenzone (Horst) to the Vlietzone and the peat meadow area near Stompwijk and Zoetermeer (Meadow). The "Future-proof Cultural Landscape" project will give the landscape table additional clout to achieve its goals.
The board of the landscape table Duin Horst & Weide is wholeheartedly committed to the realization of the Heading Document Future-proof Cultural Landscape.
Course document Future-proof cultural landscape adopted
The landscape table is working on eight key projects to prepare Dune Horst & Weide for a sustainable future. First, the inspiring Heading Document Future-proof Cultural Landscape was unanimously adopted on April 10. It serves as a current and ambitious picture of the future for the entire area.
The report describes the unique characteristics and qualities of the various subareas of Duin Horst & Weide, which the collaborating organization wants to better protect. It offers a clear action perspective for all users and authorities of the area. Moreover, it forms a solid basis for drawing up new subprojects that contribute to keeping the unique cultural landscape that is the rural area vital, authentic and experienceable within an otherwise highly urbanized region.
The cooperating parties have agreed to give the Heading Document a clear place within their own organizations. This will lead to broader support and a stronger knock-on effect in their environmental policies. Some concrete steps have already been taken. The outlined future image of Duin Horst & Weide will be used for the regional area plan of the province of South Holland. In addition, the suggestion for a new information point for the 'Meadows' will be included in the feasibility study of one of the users. Meanwhile, the landscape table will keep a close eye on whether the intended green-blue goals for a healthy living environment are sufficiently safeguarded by the users and authorities in the area.
Two new partners
The landscape table was also proud to welcome two new partners: the province of South Holland and the Rhineland Water Board. Thanks to the arrival of the province of South Holland, the landscape table's projects can now be better coordinated with the South Holland Rural Area Program (ZH-PLG). As a result, the joint goals of the landscape table and the province can be addressed more effectively. For the Rhineland Water Board, there are now better opportunities to realize the water task and water quality.