Activities in or near nature conservation areas

Do your activities pose a risk to protected nature areas, such as a Natura 2000 area? You may need an environment and planning permit. You must also prevent or repair any damage as much as possible.

You must apply for an environment and planning permit (omgevingsvergunning) for activities in or near a Natura 2000 area. This is required for activities that could have a major negative impact on these areas. These are known as Natura 2000 activities (in Dutch). For example activities that result in:

• more nitrogen being deposited in the area than is allowed
• nature in the area being destroyed
• disturbance of the peace and natural environment in the area, for example with noise or light.

Is the negative impact of your activities not significant (in Dutch)? Or is the nature conservation area not a Natura 2000 area? Then you do not need an environment and planning permit for a Natura 2000 activity. However, you may need another environment and planning permit, for example, for disturbing animals or plants. You can check this in the Omgevingsloket online service counter (in Dutch). This is also where you apply for the permit.

Preventing or repairing damage (duty of care)

If you carry out activities in or near a Natura 2000 area, you must comply with the rules in the Environmental Activities Decree (Bal, in Dutch). You must also do so when you carry out activities in or near an area designated by the province as a special national nature reserve. For example, you must:

• investigate the negative consequences of your activities
• take measures to prevent or repair those consequences
• immediately alert the government if something goes wrong unexpectedly.

These rules apply to Natura 2000 activities and to all other activities that could potentially harm a nature reserve. It does not matter whether the impacts are large or small. Additional rules from the municipality, province, or water authority may also apply. You can check all the regulations for your location with the OmgevingsloketRules on the map tool (in Dutch).

Check whether you need other permits

You may also need other environment and planning permits, and you may need to comply with more rules. For example, if:

• your activities also affect plants and animals in the area
• you erect a building in a Natura 2000 site
• your activities are harmful to the environment.

You can check this with the Omgevingsloketpermit check (in Dutch). And you can apply directly for all the environment and planning permits you need at the same time.

Online application procedure via Message Box

Message Box has not yet been linked to the Omgevingsloket. This means that you cannot apply for an environment and planning permit via Message Box. Message Box is a secure email system that enables you as an entrepreneur to exchange digital messages with Dutch government agencies.