Broekvelden/Vettenbroek

Broekvelden/Vettenbroek

Country:
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
Site number:
1240
Area:
700.0 ha
Designation date:
29-08-2000
Coordinates:
52°02'04"N 04°46'12"E
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Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.


The Site is a complex of shallow slightly brackish lakes criss-crossed by land strips, peatlands, reed fringes, wet meadows and improved grasslands, located near the city of Gouda. The current landscape has been formed by land reclamation and peat extraction. The Ramsar Site boundaries were aligned with the Natura 2000 site in 2014, resulting in a reduction in area of four hectares. The Site regularly supports more than 20,000 birds and hosts more than 1% of the biogeographic populations of the Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope) and gadwall (Anas strepera). It is also an important spawning ground for the European bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) and spined loach (Cobitis taenia). The main human uses include boating, commercial fisheries, farming and tourism. The Site is threatened by non-industrial pollution and the expansion of agricultural land.

Administrative region: Zuid-Holland

National legal designation:
  • National Ecological Network (NEN) - Broekvelden, Vettenbroek & Polder Stein
Regional (international) legal designations:
  • EU Natura 2000
Last publication date: 01-11-2022
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