In 1990 the ministry of LNV published the Nature Policy Plan primarily aimed at establishing the National Ecological Network (NEN) in the Netherlands. The central thesis of this concept is to create a green network of areas of high natural value connected through ecological infrastructure. This national policy on nature management focuses on sustainable development and nature conservation, forests, landscape and fauna. Central is the promotion of sustainable, vital and varied rural areas in the Netherlands. In general this means a focus on the conservation of flora and fauna, the quality of water and the environment and the landscape. The goal is to expand and increase the areas designated as nature conservation areas within the NEN-framework from 450,000 to 700,000 hectares in the year 2020. Efforts are also made to integrate nature management policies in other sectors such as agriculture and recreation.

In 1995 the Government approved the Structure Plan for the Rural Areas as a follow up to the NEN. The Structure Plan sets out to take concrete steps in the short and middle-term, while keeping in mind the needs for sustainable development and responsible future land-use, so that: 1) sufficient areas are available for the continuation or development of the various green uses of the countryside; and 2) the identity and utility value of the countryside as a whole is preserved in the best possible manner. The Structure Plan for the Rural Areas deals with the most important planning issues of the next ten years, with a view to 2010. The provincial and municipal governments are asked to integrate the Structure Plan in their regional and zoning plans.

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