Urban greenery initiatives in the Netherlands

Municipalities in the Netherlands are implementing various strategies to expand urban greenery and enhance biodiversity. In Haarlem, the government has introduced a draft ‘Tree Program’ (Programma Bomen) to protect and expand the city’s tree stock by ensuring sufficient growth space and increasing canopy cover.

In Hoorn, the city has increased its tree population to 45,375, shifting its management focus from simple tree counts to ‘tree crown volume’ to better measure cooling benefits and quality. Other local initiatives include the use of ‘TreeTags’ in Kaag en Braassem to provide residents with data on the environmental benefits of specific trees, such as carbon storage.

Recent community-led efforts have further expanded these goals. In Lopik, the ‘Lopik Bloeit’ project aims to transform an overgrown community garden into a communal ‘picking garden’ with edible plants. In Zeist, the Stichting Stadslandbouw Zeist has launched a ‘boomspiegelactie’ (tree mirror action) to encourage residents to adopt soil areas around neighborhood trees.

Newer regional initiatives continue this trend of plant distribution to promote climate adaptation. In the Losser and Oldenzaal regions, the Groene Loper project held a plant market providing residents with edible plants, including tea herbs, berry bushes, and bulbs, to support insects. Similarly, the municipality of Leiderdorp has launched the ‘Lekker groen bezig: laat groen voor je werken!’ campaign, through which the Milieu Educatief Centrum (MEC) offers free flower bulbs to help citizens manage rainwater and provide cooling through garden and balcony greening.