The last boat to Rottumeroog
How modern conservation kills nature
The wind pulled at jackets on the Lauwersoog dock as students waited for the Noordster. After forty-four years, this was the last crossing to the Rottum islands: the most remote piece of the Netherlands, now sealed off from the public forever.
Schipper Theodoor de Jonge checked the diesel motor one final time. The boat had carried researchers, artists, and anyone willing to understand what the Wadden Sea actually is. But Rijkswaterstaat decided that even twenty-eight people, four times a year, constituted unacceptable “disturbance.” The islands would become a “reference area”, which is a place where bureaucrats could monitor what happens when humans disappear.
The students went to the Engelsmanplaat instead. They saw a seal. They took photos. The boat returned to harbor and will rust in Zoutkamp until someone buys it. De Jonge said it’s good this way. But his words carried no conviction.
This is Dutch nature conservation i…
