Adapting to climate change: examples from the Netherlands

Abstract

Higher water levels and more space for water will fundamentally change the way our coastal lowlands are being managed. Appropriate conservation, adaptation and mitigation actions need to take place in the context of sustainable development. In the Netherlands, adaptation measures focus on the water management system as well as the spatial planning. The selection of adaptation measures, mainly depends the type of land use. For the three major types of land types, i.e. the low-lying peatlands in the western part of the country, the higher sandy soil areas in the east and southeast and the marine clay areas in the reclaimed polder areas, adaptation measures, for both agriculture and nature, adaption strategies are discussed