National and provincial government have still not worked out how to finance a conservation plan for the black tailed godwit, a meadow bird which has been dubbed a Dutch national symbol, Trouw reported at the weekend. The 2.5 year failure to agree means that €68 million in European subsidies remains unused while the number of godwits continues to decline, the …
Decades of conservation plans and millions of euros in subsidies have failed to prevent the decline of the black-tailed godwit, according to Dutch government auditors. Farmers received €33.4m in 2020 for measures to protect meadow birds such as the godwit, known as ‘grutto’ in Dutch, up from €4.2m in 2001. The national audit office singled out the black-tailed godwit because …
