Dynamics and Dependencies in Regional Collaboration for Biodiversity Restoration: Reflections from the Netherlands.

Abstract

Biodiversity restoration on a landscape level requires people with different backgrounds to connect and collaborate over an extended period of time. Hence, understanding how conservation and restoration goals are negotiated and achieved necessitates an understanding of the dynamics of the social fabric: the social networks and interactions that develop, underpin, and sustain collective action. This paper identifies patterns and factors that have contributed to constructive collaboration for biodiversity in the rural area of Ooijpolder-Groesbeek, which has been at the vanguard of nature and landscape development in the Netherlands. We conducted a historical analysis of the period between 1985 and 2022, based on a broad range of literature and interviews with key actors in the region. We provide a narrative account of the tipping points and the preceding processes that propelled the region to its current state. The emergence of these tipping points is analyzed through the lens of a conceptual framework on the dynamic interplay between practices, social interactions, events, and circumstances. Our findings reveal how an integrative landscape approach, the use of suitable boundary objects, and continuous network building and relation management across various levels have contributed to the success of the collective effort.