# Texel residents press Rijkswaterstaat on Wadden Sea nature plan

> At a public meeting in Den Hoorn, islanders asked Rijkswaterstaat to justify its advice on protecting the Wadden Sea's Natura 2000 areas, with four more island meetings to come.

Society · published 2026-11-05 18:55 · https://nlnow.nl/a/texel-residents-press-rijkswaterstaat-on-wadden-nature-plans/

Texel residents asked Rijkswaterstaat for clearer answers at a public meeting in the village hall De Waldhoorn in Den Hoorn. The agency is drawing up advice on a new management plan for the Wadden Sea's Natura 2000 nature areas.

The current management plans expire at the end of 2028, so a new one is needed. Rijkswaterstaat stressed that it only gives advice: the ministry decides what happens. Compared with the other Wadden islands, it said, relatively little will change for Texel.

Rijkswaterstaat said it regrets the unrest earlier this year. “That wasn't the intention. It wasn't then and it isn't now. How do we get closer to one another?” Ike Hendriks of the agency asked the room.

Immetje Duin, who runs boat tours around Texel, said Rijkswaterstaat’s justification is missing. “I can't see what Rijkswaterstaat is basing this on,” she said. She fears people will no longer be allowed to experience nature.

Annemarie den Teuling of the protest group Wij zijn de Wadden objected that industry hardly features in the studies, citing discharges, salt extraction and wind farms. “Why should our freedom be restricted, and why isn't anyone looking at this?” she asked.

Rijkswaterstaat will hold further information meetings on the other Wadden islands: 13 November on Terschelling, 24 November on Ameland, 2 December on Schiermonnikoog and 8 December on Vlieland.

**What happens next**

- Terschelling information meeting
- Ameland information meeting
- Schiermonnikoog information meeting
- Vlieland information meeting

## Background

- **Natura 2000**: The network of protected nature areas across the European Union. In the Netherlands, protecting these areas from nitrogen deposition affects permits for building, farming and infrastructure.
- **Rijkswaterstaat**: Rijkswaterstaat is the executive agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, responsible for the national main road and motorway network, the main waterways, and the national water system, including dikes, dams, and storm surge barriers. In nature matters it also manages the state's own water and land areas, including parts of the Wadden Sea, and it prepares the advice and plans that affect how these areas are used and protected.

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