We are losing the fabric of life that sustains us — and most people barely notice. Biodiversity isn’t just about saving the bees or protecting a handful of rare animals. It’s about the intricate web of life — thousands of species, from soil microbes to insects to birds — working together in delicate balance. When that balance is disturbed, ecosystems begin to break down. And when ecosystems collapse, so do the systems we rely on for food, clean water, a stable climate, and good health. Our survival doesn’t depend on a few visible species — it depends on the whole living system. Biodiversity isn’t a luxury. It is the living infrastructure that keeps everything else standing.
Today, on International Day for Biological Diversity, we ask: What does biodiversity loss look like here in the Netherlands? How does our food system contribute to — and suffer from — the crisis? And why is this not only an ecological issue, but also a cultural one?
Biodiversity and Survival: Why It Matters
Biodiversity underpins everything humans depend on: pollination, clean air, nutrient cycles, disease control, and climate regulation. Forests absorb carbon. Wetlands purify water. Soil fungi help plants access nutrients. Insects control pests. All of these services depend on complex interactions between thousands of species.
When we lose biodiversity, we don’t just lose individual species. We lose the stability and resilience of entire ecosystems. A forest with fewer insects loses birds. A sea with fewer plankton starves its fish. A field without worms loses fertility. This degradation often happens quietly — until a tipping point is reached, and the system suddenly crashes.
What’s at stake, ultimately, is not just nature. It’s food security, public health, economic stability, and our ability to survive.
Our Food System: Both Cause and Casualty
In the Netherlands, the largest single driver of biodiversity loss is agriculture — especially industrial livestock farming. With nearly 4 million cows, 12 million pigs, and over 100 million chickens, our country produces enormous volumes of manure, more than the land and water can absorb.
This leads to:
Nitrogen overload, damaging plant life and degrading soil
Water pollution, harming aquatic species and drinking water quality
Loss of habitat, as monocultures and fields replace diverse landscapes
Decline in pollinators and beneficial insects, due to pesticides and habitat loss
Yet biodiversity is also essential for agriculture. Without healthy soils, diverse microbes, natural pest control, and pollinators, farming becomes fragile and heavily dependent on synthetic inputs. The result is a dangerous feedback loop: the more industrialized our farming becomes, the more we destroy the biodiversity that makes agriculture possible.
Breaking that cycle means reducing our dependence on livestock and intensive monoculture — and rethinking what ends up on our plates.
From Culture to Cultivation: How Nature Shapes Identity
Biodiversity is not only ecological. It is cultural.
Traditional foods, stories, medicines, and practices often emerge from a specific place — and the species found there. Dutch cuisine once relied heavily on regional grains, herbs, wild plants, and foraged ingredients. Local proverbs, festivals, and rituals were linked to seasons and landscapes. Lose the meadow, and the song about it disappears. Lose the eel, and so goes the smoked delicacy passed down for generations.
As biodiversity declines, so too does this cultural richness. Our relationship with nature becomes more abstract, less rooted in place. A handful of supermarket crops replace centuries of local food knowledge. Cultural diversity shrinks alongside biological diversity.
But there’s a flip side: restoring biodiversity can help restore culture. Reviving regional crops, preserving historic landscapes, or protecting pollinators doesn’t just help ecosystems — it reconnects people with their heritage, with land, and with each other.
What Needs to Happen
The 2025 Statusrapport Nederlandse Biodiversiteit from Naturalis makes one thing clear: we have the knowledge and tools to reverse biodiversity loss — but only if we act now and decisively. Key actions include:
Enforce environmental laws and targets, especially around nitrogen, land use, and water quality.
Transition to nature-inclusive agriculture, including fewer livestock and more regenerative methods.
Integrate biodiversity into climate, housing, and economic policy, not as a side issue but as a central pillar.
Invest in science and monitoring, including DNA-based soil analysis and AI-powered species recognition.
Support public participation, from citizen science to community nature restoration.
Shift dietary habits, reducing meat and dairy consumption to ease pressure on ecosystems.
This is not just a technical challenge — it’s a cultural one. Change won’t come from policy alone. It requires a shift in values, in consumption, and in the stories we tell about land, food, and ourselves.
What You Can Do
Eat less meat. Choose more local, seasonal, plant-based foods.
Support farmers and cooperatives who prioritize soil health and biodiversity.
Join a citizen science project — or simply learn the names of the plants and insects around you.
Advocate for policies that link nature, farming, climate, and health.
Start conversations — at the kitchen table, at work, or at school — about how we can live well within the limits of nature.
Further Reading
Naturalis Biodiversity Center (2025), Statusrapport Nederlandse Biodiversiteit 2025. Leiden, The Netherlands. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15350844