My work keeps me in nature most days, and nature is the biggest single attraction tourism has in the Achterhoek. Most of the people who come here are calm and considerate — often middle-aged or older, here to enjoy nature fully.
We really have to keep an eye on the mountain bikers — they cause a lot of damage to the walking and cycling paths, if they even stay on them. And of course, they never seem to have a bell.
We get a lot of complaints about the mountain bikers' behaviour, especially on the sandy paths where most walkers go — collisions happen more than you'd think. Motorcyclists touring through the area cause plenty of nuisance too, though you can't really stop them; I see it as our job to inform this more active group of visitors, in particular.
More tourists keep coming to the Achterhoek, with more free time and more money than before, which makes education about nature more important than ever. Most people who visit, though, are genuinely interested and thoughtful about it. Our themed guided tours — each guide with their own specialism — bring in a lot of new members, and a bigger membership sends a signal to government that people value nature, which hopefully means more investment in conservation. In that sense, more tourists has actually been good for us.
What really worries us is the Betuwelijn — the freight railway planned through the Achterhoek, though that's no longer entirely certain to go ahead. Nature reserves need to stay connected, not fragmented, for both plants and animals, and the railway would be a serious burden on that. But this has always been our biggest struggle in conservation work: the economy tends to win.
A hard-won membership, and a fight that's older than tourism itself.