Stichting Advocaat van de Aarde
Stichting Advocaat van de Aarde supports citizen initiatives and organizations that leverage the power of the law to ensure the government adheres to its own laws.
Stichting Advocaat van de Aarde serves as a platform for financial resources, expertise, and structured knowledge exchange. The foundation makes resources and knowledge available to organizations and citizen initiatives that strive — using the power of the law — to achieve a high level of protection for nature and the environment.
Example: lily growers and pesticides
“The Netherlands has good legislation to protect nature”, explains Robert Amelung, secretary of Stichting Advocaat van de Aarde. “But the authorities don’t enforce these laws, so the state of nature keeps getting worse. Citizens play an important role in calling government bodies to account for this. They’re familiar with the nature in their surroundings and they notice when it’s suffering, which is what makes their efforts so valuable.”
The organization has a legal help desk team that answers citizens’ questions quickly. It also has an expert network for complex issues, which can put citizens’ initiatives in touch with lawyers when a case goes to court. “We see that the authorities consistently prioritize economic interests over the interests of nature and humans, partly due to fear of job losses. In my experience, companies aren’t that quick to leave if government bodies do enforce, but they actually become more innovative.”
“For example, some lily growers now use robots to check whether bulbs are diseased, instead of spraying pesticides preventively. That’s an important improvement for residents of those areas, who have been advocating for this for years.”