TheVoiceOfJoyce The Netherlands have rewilded their rivers and now have a lush bio diverse landscape along the Border Meuse. $550 million was spent, including the movement of farms away from the river and over $1 Billion has been returned. The project started 30 yrs ago to prevent a once in 250 yr flood. This is a model for the UK and the US to follow. We don’t have to live with flooding or droughts , if we start planning for our future. Dystopian is not for me. What about you? Want to live and thrive?

Posted on by jaslvr

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/20/dutch-rewilding-project-turns-back-the-clock-500-years-aoe

Rivers should be biodiversity hotspots but all over the world they are being damaged by human activity and slurry and pesticides runoff from farms. A key part of Border Meuse has been separating nature and agriculture by buying out farms along two river catchments and returning them to a natural state. Some farmers opposed being moved, but most were struggling to farm because of the flooding and were generously compensated. Farmers have moved away from hundreds of kilometres of Dutch rivers where flood protection and ecological restoration are priorities, says Schepers.

The €550m project is being paid for mainly by companies wanting to extract sand and gravel from the riverbed, which has helped widen the river and lower riverbanks and so expand the floodplain. Because of the involvement of industry, Border Meuse was the only large river restoration project that wasn’t withdrawn during the 2008 financial crash. Today, it attracts two million visitors a year, bringing in about €1bn of revenue to the Meuse region.

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