Abstract
The Netherlands occupy 41,864 km2 of which about 6,600 km2 (16%) have been classified as internationally important wetlands. About 3000 km2 (7%) have been included in the Ramsar Convention list of internationally important wetlands.
The situation of the wetlands in The Netherlands has seen large changes during the last 2000 years. Thousands of km2 of peatlands have disappeared; thousands of km2 of coastal salt marshes and a similar area of shallow lakes have been reclaimed for agriculture.
The Dutch wetlands occupy a key position in the bird migration of the West-Palaearctic flyway.
The hydrology of The Netherlands and of Dutch wetlands is dominated by the river Rhine. Hence, nutrients and contaminants imported by the Rhine and from other sources have a major impact on Dutch wetlands. Reduction of pollution and eutrophication is a major requirement for conservation of Dutch wetlands. Dutch politics appears to be moving in this direction.
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Wolff, W.J. Netherlands-Wetlands. Hydrobiologia 265, 1–14 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007260
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007260