Preface

The environmental co-operatives ‘Vereniging Eastermar’s Lânsdouwe’ (VEL) and ‘Vereniging Agrarisch Natuuren Landschapsbeheer Achtkarspelen’ (VANLA) are among the first environmental co-operatives in the Netherlands. An environmental cooperative is a regional co-operation of mostly agricultural entrepreneurs who aim to integrate environment, nature and landscape objectives into their farming practices. VEL and VANLA are located in the northern Frisian Woodlands and were founded in 1992. The co-operatives developed region-specific strategies to reach national and provincial policy goals concerning nature development, landscape preservation and ecological sustainability. Having started with nature development and landscape preservation projects in 1992, VEL and VANLA commenced with a Nutrient Management Project in 1998. For the latter they could build upon 6 years of co-operative experience and the social network constructed for the ‘nature and landscape’ track (i.e., the regional farmers’ association, the Frisian environmental association, the provincial and local authorities, the regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR). The Nutrient Management Project includes 60 dairy farmers, 2400 hectares of land and a milk quota of 30 million litres per year. As nutrient problems in dairy farming are predominantly a nitrogen (N) problem, the project focuses primarily on the reduction of N losses. With the Nutrient Management Project the farmers aim to realize the Dutch policy norms for N losses set for 2003 (i.e., no more than 180 kg N ha–1 year–1 on sandy grassland soils) in a costeffective way, while maintaining the same level of milk production per hectare. In 1998, a research council consisting of farmers and scientists was established to design, govern and monitor the first phase (1998–2000) of the Nutrient Management Project of VEL and VANLA. Within this research council it are predominantly the farmers that raise research questions and thereby set the research agenda. The first phase of the Nutrient Management Project ended in 2000. Promising results in terms of achieving environmental objectives and fruitful collaboration between farmers and researchers encouraged the research council to apply for funding for a second phase of the nutrient project. After a long period of negotiations between farmers, researchers and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the environmental co-operatives and the researchers involved obtained sufficient funding to implement an ambitious second phase of the project, which started in September 2001 and will last till the end of 2003. The contributions to this special issue cover the results of the first phase and approximately the first one and a half years of the second phase of the Nutrient Management Project.