In 2012, the Federal Council decided to implement the biodiversity strategy. This also affects the green spaces around the highways. Teams of botanists and zoologists are currently working to study the flora and fauna along national highways. The goal is to increase the number of plants and animals living along freeways to 20 percent of the green spaces in the future.
When I was young, they used to regularly mow the green spaces around roads and highways in the Netherlands. Nowadays it seems like they keep it to a minimum, which is to say that they try to keep it safe and keep the signs visible, but other than that the plants grow much higher and seem more diverse. I really like it and I think it makes a lot of sense, especially in densely populated areas. A quick search suggests that’s it’s mostly at the regional level that they’ve decided to implement this.
That’s not to say that nature in the Netherlands is anything to write home about, because we don’t have much of it and we’re dealing with a nitrogen crisis and regular droughts. It’s just a small positive thing that I noticed.
Thanks for sharing.