North Sea Region conferentie in Assen (NSR15Assen)
North Sea Region conferentie in Assen (NSR15Assen)
Vandaag was de werkgroep Holwerd aan Zee vertegenwoordigd bij de North Sea Region conferentie in Assen (NSR15Assen). De werkgroep heeft tijdens één van de workshops een korte pitch gegeven over het project en de koppelkansen met de ‘circular economy’. Tijdens de conference is een kort contact geweest met Donné Slangen van het Ministerie van I&M over het MIRT. 27 augustus a.s. is het bestuurlijk vooroverleg tussen directie Rijkswaterstaat, Min. EZ, It Wetterskip, gedeputeerde Johannes Kramer provincie en bestuurders van de gemeente. En uiteraard met een vertegenwoordiging van de werkgroep Holwerd aan Zee.
De pitch is in het Engels.
Pitch North Sea Conference 2015
Workshop Circular Economy
The project Holwerd on Sea restores the connection between de Wadden Sea and the famous Frisian Lakes. It’s an unique project because it’s not a government project. The people from Holwerd are in the lead.
Holwerd on Sea has many stakeholders. But there’s no resistance at all because the stakeholders are supporters and ambassadors of the project.
Stakeholders are enthusiastic because the project responds to a number of issues in the Wadden region.
- The dike has to be reinforced because of the sea-level rise
- We need a new pumping station because of the climate change
- We need more fresh – salt water transition along the coast
- The region suffers from demographic decline (decreasing population = Ghost region)
- Holwerd on Sea can be the solution to maintain the reachability of the island of Ameland.
The reachability of Ameland can be an important financial pillar for the project. At this moment the fairway to Ameland needs to be dredged every week and this costs millions of Euro’s every year again. And all the tidle mud is being dumped at sea. This is very negative for the water quality and lots of species that live in the Wadden Sea. Especially the bio building organisms like sea grass and mussels.
Holwerd on Sea can be the solution for this dredging problem, because we are want to build a huge buffer lake to flush the tidle mud away in a natural way. Nature also benefits. The idea is to make enough breeding islands and places were the birds can feed and rest when its high tide on the Wadden Sea. Without being eaten by the many foxes in the area. And of course there will be an extra fresh-salt water transition. This is very necessary for fish migration. And where salt meets fresh water, there will be lots of food for birds.
The buffer lake – with ebb and flood- will also be a beautiful place for the development for recreation. This is planned in the historical village and on two artificial dwelling hills (we call them terps). And there will be a harbour, a boulevard and a maritime atmosphere, which will attract many tourists. And this will be the end of the demographic decline, the reports tell us.
Besides flushing the mud away, we’re thinking about using a part of it. To take a part of the mud out of the system to use for improving agricultural land. We’ve had a first meeting with the Dutch Urgenda Foundation. And later this year there will be a follow-up to explore the possibilities.
@JanSineZijlstra