After nearly ten years, Saskia de Mol van Otterloo is leaving the world of the National Parks. She started at the National Parks Program in 2015, then housed under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, transitioned to the National Parks Office at Staatsbosbeheer in 2018, and five years later became its leader. 'And now I'm going to make a great transition to LandschappenNL, where just like in the national parks, the unique identity and soul of the landscape serve as an important basis for the future.' We asked Saskia a few questions about her National Parks period.
What I'm most proud of
'The first thing that comes to mind is the realization of the new joint public website www.nationaleparken.nl with the Knowledge Platform. And all of it in the colors of the refreshed house style. I think it has become a visually beautiful and tranquil website with a lovely click-through to the individual parks. And soon it will also be available in English and German. To me, the website is the cherry on the cake as an example of the good cooperation that has grown in recent years between the National Parks Partnership (SNP), IVN, the National Parks Office (NPB), and the individual national parks. The website has also proved its worth in recent weeks during the campaign surrounding the budget cuts on national parks. The press releases of the SNP were on it, but we also saw that newspapers retrieved information from the website.
And if I may mention a good second, it would be the National Parks Guideline. We released it in 2021 as a manual with the National Parks Standard. The new Policy Rule has since replaced the latter. But if you take the Guideline, it still stands strong. It's actually the Soldier's Handbook for any national park that wants to develop around nature and landscape, sustainable tourism, cooperation with the environment, unity, and recognizability.'
What I enjoyed most about my work
'It was indeed the working visits to the national parks and the meetings with the involved employees. As the National Parks Office, you write beautiful annual plans about the necessity of growing national parks into more robust nature and landscape areas, about developing better and more unique experiences, about improving the recognizability of national parks for the visitor, and so on. During those visits to the national parks, you learn that practice is more stubborn than these national paper plans. But also that all national parks work very hard and persistently on all those ambitions. Step by step, they move forward. In other words, the passion and the "how can it be done" attitude that you see and feel make an impression. And the two foreign work visits to the Cairngorms and two parks in Denmark that we organized for the national parks and partner organizations were incredibly fun and educational. A must-see! And last but not least...my colleagues from the NPB and SNP. We laughed a lot with and at each other, also because things sometimes turn out differently than you want. You have to be able to put things in perspective. There was a lot of collegiality among each other, but also friendship.'
What I liked less
'The integration of a cooperation program with multiple partners and parks into the formal-legal business processes of Staatsbosbeheer. The National Parks Office is housed as a legal entity at Staatsbosbeheer, so you have to deal with that. Governments are not set up for such cooperation programs, where you want to issue a joint assignment, for example. That sometimes requires a lot of patience and "legal" shortcuts.'
Where the national parks will be in ten years
'In 2035, the national parks will be pioneers in connecting the protected unique nature and landscape cores with the environment. And I primarily mean the human environment, such as farmers, tree growers, recreation entrepreneurs, residents, care facilities, and so on. At the start of the program, we were very focused on "physical scaling up." The aim was larger parks consisting of more robust areas. That got stuck in practice due to resistance from the environment. As a result, the park organizations have become good at listening and recognizing the interests of entrepreneurs and residents, and how they can then be linked to opportunities for nature and landscape. So, more joint work from the ground up on a better quality of the living environment. Besides focusing on the unique nature, also involving the surrounding area. I think parks will further build on this strength in the future and know how to fill in the space between the original nature and landscape cores, for which they were appointed, and the surrounding cities and villages in a very innovative way.'
What I wish for the national parks for the future
'A little more love from the government. And by that, I don't mean administratively, because they've worked very hard for the national parks in recent years. But at a higher managerial level. The fact that the House of Representatives reversed the budget cut shows that there is broad political and social support to cherish the national parks in the Netherlands. That support also came from the IPO and the VNG, for example. I found that almost more important than the reversal of the budget cut. It's an important signal that the national parks matter. I wish the national parks that other ministries also start to appreciate their role as an innovative, inspiring, and independent connector between various regional interests. And that national parks, after 2030 – when the current Policy Program and funding expire – can continue to take on this role. National parks are actually the Dutch Designers, but in the field of nature and landscape.'
What else I want to say
'I hope that in the coming years, the national parks and involved national partners who have jointly signed the National Parks Manifesto will maintain the unity they have shown in their joint campaign against the announced budget cuts. This has proven that you can achieve a lot on a national level through that unity and collaboration.'