Marker Wadden

The Markermeer area is one of the largest nature reserves and freshwater lakes in Europe (70,000 ha). The construction of the Houtribdijk in the 1970s has reduced dynamism in the area to a minimum. The result is an accumulation of sludge, limited photosynthesis, and an impoverished chain of nutrients. There is also little diversity in habitats because of the absence of variation in depth, natural banks and marshy lakeside areas.

The construction of the Marker Wadden is a unique and prestigious project, with which the Society for the Preservation of Monuments in the Netherlands aims to reverse the ecological decline in the Markermeer area and to create a natural and robust nature reserve for a new generation. This will mark a new stage in the life of the Markermeer area. The Marker Wadden project has two aims: to make the hydrological system in the Markermeer area able to face the challenge of the future, and to create a paradise for birds.

Commissioned by the maritime contractor Van Oord and in collaboration with Alterra, HKV, Netics and Podium, Strootman Landschapsarchitecten has drawn up a landscape design that came second in the competition organised by the Society for the Preservation of Monuments in the Netherlands. The landscape design is based on the needs of breeding and migrant birds, the catchment of sludge, and visitors’ enjoyment of the area. We introduce a cleaning up operation with a dual purpose: the creation of a paradise for birds, and the creation of an interesting environment for visitors. The aim is to achieve maximum dynamism and variation for birds and people. The interaction between the elements earth, water and wind, and the related natural processes form its basis. This yields a contrast between the north, south, east and west side of the Avian Paradise.

The first important step is to bring the bottom of the Markermeer closer to the surface so that light, wind, currents and waves can make more of an impact on it. The Avian Paradise will be developed from the succeeding interaction between human interventions and natural processes. The result will be a variated landscape on the border between land and water that aims at shelter, dynamism and differences in water level and is caught up in an ongoing process of development. Our design aims to optimise this interplay between intervention and natural processes in which the visible but slowly fading contrast between human intervention and the natural forms that arise provides an extra quality.