The De Biesbosch National Park is alive with wildlife.
White tailed eagles, great egrets, ospreys and kingfishers can be spotted among the vast network of rivers and creeks that comprise the 9,000 hectare site in the Netherlands. Hundreds of beavers live in burrows across the park, ready to come out at night.
This landscape was created as part of the Dutch Government’s “Room for the Rivers” project, the purpose of which was to create spaces for waterways to flood to avoid ruining communities. In the process, it created areas for nature to flourish.
Our rivers weren’t that bad at one point. I remember when the Thames was cleaned up and wildlife returned. Then responsibility for rivers was gifted to corporate psychopaths and the go ahead was given for building towns on flood plains. Our problems are 100% self inflicted, were 100% avoidable, and 100% caused by greed.