The quality is fine, but the amount of reed that comes from the land has decreased again this year in the Kop van Overijssel. Reed growers say that in some places the reed yield has halved in ten years. If it continues like this, there will soon be no more thatch available for covering roofs.
“Look, the reed is much rarer here. You can see right through it,” says reed grower Wout van de Belt at RTV East, while walking through the lake area near Belt-Schutsloot. “There it is higher and denser, there it is also a bit wetter. Maybe that makes a difference. We just don’t know now. Maybe there is nothing we can do about it and we have to accept it. But then we have to. well researched. “
These are the busiest weeks of the year for reed growers. They can mow until April 15th. After that, the breeding season starts and they have to leave the reeds alone.
Traditionally, the reed is used to cover the roofs of farms, mills and villas. Nature management also plays a role. Mowing keeps swamp and lake-like areas such as Weerribben-Wieden open and wet and gradually creates a specific flora and fauna, which is reason for the national government to subsidize this form of mowing.
The fire in it
But now the amount of reed is declining, says Van de Belt. “They also have this problem in Nieuwkoop in South Holland.
Van de Belt is now trying to get colleagues, nature conservationists and involved organizations to do research into the low reed yield. According to him, the water board and LTO have enough facts and figures about water quality and the yield per location. But the knowledge to combine that data and find a cause is lacking.
The water is too clean
The reed grower himself takes an advance on the research. He will experiment on a small scale with the fertilization of reed. His suspicion is that the water in the Wieden has become so clean that the reeds may lack certain nutrients. The changing climate can also play a role. “I’d really like to know.”
The first thing that is now endangered is the reed roofing, Van de Belt fears. But many of his colleagues react with resignation. “Like,” it’s not on, it will last our time “(it is no different, it will take our time)”, he says. “But I can’t think like that. If we can do something about it, we should do it.”
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