In 2019, the research institute Deltares developed four scenarios for the future of the Netherlands. However, in 2024, a fifth scenario was introduced: Nature-based Solutions. The first four scenarios were primarily focused on safety and the availability of drinking water, seeking technical solutions to these challenges. Nature-based Solutions, on the other hand, places natural solutions at the core, ensuring the same level of safety without harming plants and animals.

Nature-based Solutions aims to use natural processes in a smart way. For example, tidal movements can deposit sand and silt, allowing the land to naturally rise. This is already happening up to Tiel. As the sea level rises, this deposition will extend further, all the way to the German border. This is a very cost-effective way to raise the land, and higher land means lower dikes and less salinization. When we close off a sea arm with a dam, we disrupt these processes. In fact, the water behind the dam evenly distributes sand and silt over the seabed, causing the coastline to erode.

Along the North Sea coast, Nature-based Solutions can also offer other measures. Plants along the coast, for instance, can break waves, reducing the need for high dikes. Or, we could establish a ‘swap polder,’ an area enclosed by dikes that is naturally raised over time. After several years, this polder would be high enough to be used for recreation, nature, or agriculture.

Natural solutions do require more space than technical solutions. This space can partly be taken from the sea, but room must also be made behind the current dikes. Additionally, further research is needed to determine whether natural land elevation can keep up with rising sea levels.