Compensatie voor amfibieën, reptielen en vissen in de praktijk

Dispensation for the Dutch Flora and Fauna Act: noncommittal? In the Netherlands, many species of reptiles, amphibians and fishes are protected by law. One of the clauses of this law is that habitat lost due to, for example, human habitation or industrial expansion at locations where such species occur, has to be compensated for. In this context, compensation means creating new habitat values comparable with the values lost as a consequence of human activity. One has to ask the government for dispensation by submitting a report for all the activities carried out and a plan for compensation. Thirty-one projects were selected for which the Dutch government gave dispensation with a compensation obligation and evaluated them on: timeline and quality of implementation and availability of monitoring data. Field visits revealed that in eleven projects there was no visible activity, so we evaluated the 20 remaining cases. Species should be allowed to colonise a new habitat before the old one disappears. In three cases, compensation was created before other activities started. In three other cases, in which was compensated, this was not done. In seven cases, it was unclear when compensation was carried out. In all other cases, no compensation was detected, also not before the project was implemented. Only in 10% of the cases evaluated, was compensation fully carried out as described in the dispensation contract. In all other cases, compensation was partially or not carried out (table 3). No monitoring data were available from any project. We have to conclude that although the Dutch government permits dispensation due to contracts, there is hardly any check on whether or how the compensation is carried out. This must lead to losses of occupied habitats of Habitats Directive II species or Red List species, as for example the Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) and European weather loach (Misgurnus fossilis). And this is against European legislation.