Prolonged drought is causing severe damage to nature across the Netherlands, with trees shedding leaves, plants dying and amphibians disappearing as ponds dry up, a Natuurmonumenten hydrologist said Sunday.
“It looks like autumn,” said Jaco van Heemskerk while inspecting a forest near Slot Haamstede on the Zeeland island of Schouwen-Duiveland, next to Burgh-Haamstede. Some trees have already turned orange-brown and are preparing to drop their leaves.
Trees have entered a conservation mode to minimize water use, van Heemskerk said. “But they still have to hold on for a while,” he added, noting that significant rainfall is not expected soon. “I am taking into account that they could die.”
The moat around the castle contains no water. Levels have dropped by at least 1 meter, leaving a boat on the exposed bottom. Cracks are forming in the dry soil.
Van Heemskerk said short dry periods do not usually cause alarm. “There is always dynamism, and nature can often handle that quite well. But this drought is lasting too long.” Zeeland is among the Dutch regions with the largest precipitation deficits.
Groundwater levels in the adjacent dunes fell from January 2025 through October that year, rose modestly until February 2026, then dropped sharply again, according to data van Heemskerk reviewed.
“In fact, the drought already started in January 2025,” he said. “The groundwater is now lower than in the summer of 1976,” long regarded as the driest Dutch summer on record. “This is a new low point.”
Trees are dying, and certain dune plants such as orchids risk disappearing. In other parts of the country, rare amphibians, including the crested newt and garlic toad are dying as their pools dry out.
Streams have stopped flowing and heathlands are under heavy stress. Dragonflies, butterflies, and other insects face the loss of habitat. “This drought can be fatal for some animals and plants,” van Heemskerk said.
About 10 kilometers east of the Schouwen-Duiveland dunes, the Plan Tureluur wetland—converted from 1,000 hectares of farmland over the past 20 years—provides habitat for avocets, spoonbills, and black-tailed godwits.
After weeks of drought, some pools remain, but cracks appear across much of the ground. “We specifically want water here to prevent foxes and other predators from reaching the birds too easily. That water is needed to protect nests. If that is not the case, breeding success here can be zero. We do not have many places like this in the Netherlands. This is a beautiful area on the Eastern Scheldt. I become truly sad when I look at this,” van Heemskerk said.
He called for decisive national measures to strengthen nature against drought. “We need robust solutions. The national government has to make choices on that,” he said.
“Otherwise you keep placing little pumps, but that will not save you. During the dry summer of 2018 we said, “That happens once in a while. But the summers of 2020, 2022 and 2025 were also dry. What am I supposed to say now? Because of climate change, these dry summers simply occur more often.”
Retaining more water in winter rather than pumping it directly to sea may be necessary, van Heemskerk said. The current practice keeps groundwater lower so land stays dry enough for early-season camping near Burgh-Haamstede and for farmers to operate heavy machinery on pastures.
These issues concern how the landscape is managed, he said. “We need to move toward full system restoration, but that keeps getting stuck. If you do not do that, you are going to lose species, and we already have so few. I find it terrible when you have something unique and it slips through your fingers. That goes to my heart.”
