The Beekberger Forest, situated south of Apeldoorn, was the last remaining primeval forest in the Netherlands. It was transformed to agriculture in 1871. In 2006, the Dutch nature conservancy Natuurmonumenten reestablished the western part as a natural forest. Commissioned by the Municipality of Apeldoorn, Nature^Squared investigated the possibilities to also increase the biodiversity in the eastern part of the once Beekberger Forest. To achieve this we have interviewed most of the current land owners (35) and identified several economic ‘engines’ that could start re-greening the area.
We concluded that the Municipality of Apeldoorn could strengthen the identity of the area, foster and enhance existing dynamics of landowners and provoke change by creating incentives Apeldoorn-wide.