Natuurgebied Noord

Amsterdam-North is a nature area where people also live. Between the paving stones and the highways, all sorts of things bloom and grow. Amsterdam Noord has the darkest nights, and you don't even have to look far to see the Oer-IJ.

In this programme line, we organise adventure programmes, expeditions and research with artists, ecologists and activists about the city as a nature reserve, a plea for a radically different view of the city. We trek through Amsterdam's most nature-rich district while snorkelling, canoeing and hiking.

Will you join us?
Put on your boots or take off your shoes. Crawl through the gutter or snorkel through a ditch. You can canoe along the banks of the Oer-IJ, bushcraft in Tuindorp Oostzaan or go on an expedition along the A10.

Opening Natuurgebied Noord

October 2021, we organized a grand opening of Nature Area North. We wrote a manifesto and a wish list that we will realize in the coming years.

Het Wilde Noorden

'Het Wilde Noorden' is an ode to nature in Amsterdam-North. Two years of expeditions from Tolhuistuin resulted in the city nature guide by Joost Janmaat and Reem Saouma. A colorful book with routes on land, at sea and in the air, and interviews and background stories about the wild city nature.

Manifesto

Amsterdam-Noord is a Nature Reserve, treat it as such

Residents of Amsterdam-Noord have known it for a long time. Noord is the greenest, most lively, species-rich and biodiverse landscape in Amsterdam. It has more different types of plants than National Park Texel Dunes, more different trees than National Park the Hoge Veluwe and the North Sea Canal is one of the most biodiverse waters in the Netherlands. It may sound crazy, but Stadsdeel Noord is a Nature Area. So, residents, businesses and administrators, treat it that way. That is the only way to keep this place livable and healthy.

Amsterdam-North has vast reed beds, forests, courtyard gardens, allotments, parks, lakes, ditches and rivers. Every day we can see and experience how life finds their way into the city. We, residents of North, are treated to bird concerts, buzzing insect swarms, frog choirs and cricket chatter. Over the Mill District fly thousands of migratory bird formations. Foxes and street cats migrate through the Bongerd, spoonbills through Schellingwoude. You don't have to look far, between the paving stones of the Vogelbuurt and along the highway of the A10 all sorts of things bloom and grow. Snorkeling and canoeing in the Noorderijplas and Schellingwouderbreek we see hawks, eels and yellow-cheeked turtles. Bank swallows and Kingfishers are home at Overhoeks. In the Vliegenbos you realize among the glowworms and moths that Noord still has the darkest nights in the city.

But for how long? Amsterdam's biggest change in the coming years will take place in Noord. The district where 100,000 people now live will be expanded by some 50,000 homes, an enormous logistical operation. The plans pay attention to greenery, but as long as there is no proper monitoring of the implementation of guidelines and a lack of a legal and political basis, urban nature will lose out.

We could see that in recent years. Thousands of trees have been cut down without adequate replanting. The video of hazing of North, portrayed by Elzo and Defend North, shows a frightening picture. New construction towers shoot into the sky, but energy poverty is a daily reality for many Northerners in poorly maintained tenements. Light pollution leads to massive insect mortality, but remains a blind spot for administrators. 'Shady greenery' is stepped up to meet its own standards, but artificial turf sports fields, tennis courts and roof gardens have little to do with publicly accessible nature.

At the same time, a broad social movement of concerned people who, in their free hours, work hard for the beautiful place where they live has also emerged in North in recent years. They are organized as Friends of Vliegenbos, Rietland, Noorderpark, Wilmkebreek, Schellingwouderpark, the Sustainable 100 of Noord, Amsterdam Noord Groene Stad aan het Water (ANGSAW), Red Amsterdam Noord, OM, Groene Longen, Dames Vogelburen or Voortuin van Noord.

People who tirelessly continue to speak up at district council meetings, teach their neighbors to cycle around the Vliegenbos because of the animals that live there, demonstrate in the Noorderpark because of de-growth and lack of participation, make manifestos, plant flower gardens, organize expeditions, give vegetable gardening lessons, build a Christmas tree forest, maintain allotment parks and draw up petitions because investments are being made in new construction, but not enough in renovation of existing housing. Paws in the mud, feet in the IJ clay.

Together with these people we declare Amsterdam North a Nature Area. Because Noord is a habitat of billions of little creatures that grow, crawl, fly and bloom, and with whom we humans make up the city. We need each other to keep the city healthy and livable. To deal with the scorching heat and heavy precipitation we increasingly face. We unwind there, we recreate there, we become happy there. We ourselves are nature. We can only keep the city livable if we also design and build for plants and animals. Look more often through the eyes of an animal, a plant, a fungus or lichen. How does a hedgehog look at a traffic circle? Or a grass snake to the Schellingwouderdijk?

By declaring Nature Area North, we are advocating for the celebration, preservation, enhancement and appreciation of urban nature. We call on everyone to participate, residents, businesses, administrators: Hang out a flag. Put it in your front yard, your park, the water around your house, between the paving stones of your street. Celebrate the district we love so much. Because Noord is a Nature District where people also live.

A shortened version of this text appeared as an opinion supplement in Parool (October 22, 2021)