Editing Netherlands (section)

===Nature===
{{Further|List of national parks of the Netherlands}}
[[File:Relax - Flickr - Rob Oo.jpg|thumb|[[Harbor seal|Common seals]] off the coast of [[Terschelling]], a [[Wadden Sea]] island]]
The Netherlands has 21 national parks<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://nationaalpark.nl/ |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=Nationaal Park |language=nl-NL}}</ref> and hundreds of other nature reserves. Most of these are owned by [[Staatsbosbeheer]], the national department for [[forestry]] and [[Habitat conservation|nature conservation]] and [[Vereniging Natuurmonumenten|Natuurmonumenten]], a private organisation that buys, protects and manages nature reserves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.natuurmonumenten.nl/over-natuurmonumenten|title=Over Natuurmonumenten|website=Natuurmonumenten}}</ref> The [[Wadden Sea]] in the north, with its [[tidal flat]]s and [[wetland]]s, is rich in [[biodiversity|biological diversity]], and is a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Nature Site]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=|first=|title=Wadden Sea |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1314/ |access-date=27 January 2023 |publisher=[[UNESCO]] World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> The [[Eastern Scheldt]], formerly the northeast [[estuary]] of the river [[Scheldt]] was designated a national park in 2002, making it the largest national park in the Netherlands at an area of {{convert|370|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.

[[Phytogeography|Phytogeographically]], the European Netherlands is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the [[Circumboreal Region]] within the [[Boreal Kingdom]]. According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], the European territory of the Netherlands belongs to the [[ecoregion]] of [[Atlantic mixed forests]].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |doi-access=free |pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287}}</ref> In 1871, the last old original natural woods were cut down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beekbergerwoud - Natuurgebied |url=https://www.natuurmonumenten.nl/natuurgebieden/beekbergerwoud |access-date=13 June 2022 |website=Natuurmonumenten |language=nl}}</ref> These woods were planted on [[heath (habitat)#Anthropogenic heaths|anthropogenic heaths]] and sand-drifts (overgrazed heaths) ([[Veluwe]]). The Netherlands had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 0.6/10, ranking it 169th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G}}</ref>

[[Nitrogen pollution]] is a problem.<ref name="The Economist"/> The number of flying insects in the Netherlands has dropped by 75% since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.consoglobe.com/insectes-disparaitre-cg |title=Les insectes sont bel et bien en train de disparaître |language=fr |trans-title=Insects are well and truly disappearing |first=Paul |last=Malo |date=18 November 2019 |website=consoglobe.com}}</ref>