Mededelingen Libellen in de Gronings – Drentse veenkoloniën rond 1970, een inmiddels verloren gegaan libellenparadijs

During the 1960s and 1970s the veenkoloniën in the northeastern part of The Netherlands was rich of canals and other waterways. The water quality was moderate to good although at some places point sources of organic pollution were present. Aquatic life showed a high biodiversity both in flora and fauna, including dragonflies. It was a great surprise that in 1968 a large population of Somatochlora metallica was discovered in the area. This species was believed to be quite rare in The Netherlands, only living in the neighbourhood of small shadowed slow moving rivers with a rich riparian vegetation including large trees. However, in the veenkolonien a very large and healthy population was present on standing waters with hardly any trees present. Unfortunately the area got lost of their aquatic biodiversity about five years later because of improvements in agriculture and, therefore, nearly all canals and other waterways were drained.