Debating the ‘wild’ : What the Oostvaardersplassen can tell us about Dutch constructions of nature

Abstract: This thesis discusses key conflicts in the Oostvaardersplassen. These conflicts include the contestation of the Oostvaardersplassen as wilderness, the debate on grazer mortality, and the debate on culling. Through Actor Network Theory, the actors involved in the Oostvaardersplassen are discussed. A number of documents are selected for the different actors to do a qualitative analysis of communication on the Oostvaardersplassen. The Oostvaardersplassen is a unique area, claimed from the sea and fully manmade, with a management philosophy with aspects from rewilding theories. Recurring themes in the actor documents are studied, such as the definitions of the terms ‘nature’ ‘wilderness’ and the use of interventions. In addition, the documents are analysed on their use of rhetoric tools and the way they discuss the general public in the Oostvaardersplassen debates. The nature of the Oostvaardersplassen as an experiment, the strong presence of emotions in the debates and the unclear definition of goals and purposes lead to a more fractured stage for the actors and the debate. While the Oostvaardersplassen is successful as an area for experimentation, learning, and as a nature reserve in the midst of the Netherlands, these concluding issues are an important consideration in making the Oostvaardersplassen’s debate less volatile.